What is a hominid/hominin?
A hominid is a member of the taxonomic family that includes humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and their extinct ancestors. Hominins are members of the human branch after the human lineage split from that of chimpanzees, and thus include living humans and extinct human ancestors, such as the Australopiths. Hominins are characterised by bipedal locomotion, although this may not have been the case for the very earliest members of the group, and relatively small canine teeth. Later members of this group (those in the genus, Homo) are characterised by larger brains than those of living apes like chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans and gibbons.
Related Questions
- I teach a biology class, so I can use the whole curriculum. Can I order just the modules that apply to biology, such as Hominid Evolution, Origin of Life, and the Evolution of Life?
- Is it because games like Castle Crashers and Alien Hominid are intuitive for gamers?
- Do my students need to know and use the term hominin as well as hominid?
