hominin

[hom-uh-nin]

noun

Anthropology, Zoology.

1. any member of the group consisting of all modern and extinct humans and their immediate ancestors, specifically members of the tribe Hominini.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hominin¹

First recorded in 1985–90; from New Latin Hominīnī, equivalent to Latin homin- (stem of homō ) “human being, man” + -īnī (plural of the adjective suffix -īnus indicating origin or affiliation); Homo ( def. ), -ine ¹ ( def. ) )

Example Sentences

Thanks to newly discovered fossil bones, scientists have now been able to match an enigmatic 3.4-million-year-old hominin foot, first found in 2009, to a species that is different from the famous fossil Lucy.

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The Woranso-Mille site is especially important because it provides clear evidence that two closely related hominin species were living in the same area at the same time.

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"The presence of an abducted big toe in Ardipithecus ramidus was a big surprise because at 4.4 million-years-ago there was still an early hominin ancestor which retained an opposable big toe, which was totally unexpected," said Haile-Selassie.

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"I thought the distinctions between the diet of A. deyiremeda and A. afarensis would be harder to identify but the isotope data show clearly that A. deyiremeda wasn't accessing the same range of resources as A. afarensis, which is the earliest hominin shown to make use of C4 grass-based food resources."

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This upright-walking hominin was built for chewing tough foods, equipped with powerful jaws and large teeth coated in thick enamel.

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