Archaic character or characteristic
A feature on a bone that is found in an ancestral species.
Character or characteristic
Any attribute of an organism; in palaeoanthropology it refers to a physical feature on a bone.
Character state
A specified variation in a character.
Cladistics
The principle of deducing the interrelationships of organisms based on character states.
Corpus
In human biology, the main part or body of bone.
Hominin and hominid
‘Hominin’ refers to a group consisting of modern humans, extinct species and all our immediate ancestors, including the australopithecines, Paranthropus and Ardipithecus. We use it to designate the line leading to modern humans and the various members of the human evolutionary tree. ‘Hominid’ refers to a group comprising all modern and extinct great apes—modern humans, chimpanzees, gorillas orangutans, and their immediate ancestors. The word used to have the same meaning as hominin has now, so be aware that when older textbooks or journal articles use ‘hominid’, they are referring to ‘hominin’. The name switch came about when changes were made to the way humans, gorillas and orangutans were classified.1
Hypothesis
An idea concerning an event and its possible explanation. It is usually based on evidence and its merit lies in the capacity to use it to make testable predictions.2
In situ
Situated in its original place. That is, it has not been moved from its original place of deposition by, for example, erosional action, or as a result of other events.
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
A set of rules for naming and the use of names in zoology. These rules are governed by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.
Lineage
A series of populations connected by a continuous line of descent from ancestor to descendant.
Miocene Epoch
The Miocene Epoch is dated from 23.03 million to 5.3 million years ago.
Model
Models in science are produced to show possible relationships among two or more factors, and to shed light on what might have happened as a result of these relationships.3
Palaeoanthropology
‘Palaeo’ means old, especially in relation to the geological past, and ‘anthropology’ is the study of humans. So ‘palaeoanthropology’ is the study of the evolutionary origins and development of the human family. It often involves the scientific study of human fossils.
Palaeoanthropologist
A person who specialises in the study of human evolutionary origins.
Pleistocene Epoch
The epoch dated from 2.58 million to 12 000 years ago. Early Pleistocene: 2.58 million to 780 000 years ago; Middle Pleistocene: 780 000 to 12 600 years ago; Late Pleistocene: 12 600 to 12 000 years ago.4
Primitive character or characteristic
A feature on a bone that is found in an ancestral species.
Strata
Series of layers of sediment or other naturally occurring material deposited over time.
Taxon
A taxon is a group of one or more populations of an organism that is considered by taxonomists to form a unit. They are arranged in a hierarchical order from kingdoms to subspecies. The plural is taxa. Genus and species are taxonomic categories.
Taxonomy
The theory and practice of classifying organisms; the branch of biology that classifies all living things.