Naming Homo erectus: A review

Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 190, pp. 103516

Abstract

Following the discovery of hominin fossils at Trinil (Java, Indonesia) in 1891 and 1892, Eugène Dubois named a new species, now known as Homo erectus. Although the main historical events are well-known, there appears to be no consensus regarding two important aspects of the naming of the species, including what constitutes the original publication of the name, and what is the name-bearing type specimen. These issues are addressed in this paper with reference to original sources and the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Our review confirms earlier studies that cite the published quarterly fieldwork report covering the 3rd quarter of 1892 as the original publication naming the species erectus. However, until recently, the correct publication year of 1893 has consistently been cited as 1892, and it has rarely been recognized that the author of the publication was anonymous, even though the author of the species is specifically named. Importantly, Dubois assigns all three hominin fossils found at Trinil up to that moment to the new species, explicitly stating that they belong to a single individual. The three fossils, a molar, a calotte, and a femur, therefore jointly constitute the original holotype. However, the femur most likely derives from younger strata than the other hominins and shows fully modern human-like morphology, unlike subsequently discovered H. erectus femora. Moreover, there is no consensus over the affinities of the molar, and if it is H. erectus rather than an extinct ape, there is no evidence that it belongs to the same individual as the calotte. Excluding these two fossils from the holotype, the calotte is the appropriate fossil to retain the role as name-bearing specimen.

Authors 3

1. Eduard Pop corresponding Aachen Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University Naturalis Biodiversity Center

   Leiden University · Naturalis Biodiversity Center

   Affiliation as printed

   Naturalis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA, Leiden, the Netherlands; Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9514, 2300 RA, Leiden, the Netherlands. Electronic address: eduard.pop@naturalis.nl

   Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9514, 2300 RA, Leiden, the Netherlands

   Naturalis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA, Leiden, the Netherlands

2. Sofwan Noerwidi

   National Research and Innovation Agency

   Affiliation as printed

   Research Center for Archaeometry, National Research and Innovation Agency, Jl. Condet Pejaten 4, Pasar Minggu, Jakarta Selatan 12510, Indonesia

3. Fred Spoor

   Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology · Natural History Museum

   Affiliation as printed

   Centre for Human Evolution Research, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 5BD London, United Kingdom; Department of Human Origins, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany

   Centre for Human Evolution Research, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 5BD London, United Kingdom

   Department of Human Origins, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany