Meganthropus
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| Meganthropus Conservation status: Fossil | ||||||||||||||||||
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Meganthropus is a subspecies of the extinct hominid species, Homo erectus. Its full name in binomial nomenclature is Homo erectus palaeojavanicus although it was once called Meganthropus palaeojavanicus. Meganthropus was given a subspecies classification to distinguish it from other fossilized representatives of Homo erectus on account of its enormous size. Based on scant, but adequate, existing fossilized remains, H. e. palaeojavanicus has been estimated to have stood roughly 9 feet tall (= 2.75 m) and weighed roughly 750 to 1000 pounds (= 340-450 kg). Remains of this subspecies, including remnants of its cranium, lower jaw, and femur, have been estimated to be roughly 1 million years old.
Meganthropus is a good example of the great variation that existed in the Homo erectus line that is only equalled among representatives of the Homo genus by the similar variations found in modern humans. Its remains were discovered in Indonesia and in Australia where another subspecies of Homo erectus, Homo erectus soloensis, has also been discovered. Although once not considered to be of the Homo genus due to its seemingly improbable size for a hominid, Meganthropus remains were found along with tools normally associated with the Acheulean era, but of great size, making it difficult to refute the intelligence of the titanic hominid.