PITHECANTHROPINE

[pith.ec.an.thro.pine] n (1925): any of a group of Pleistocene hominids (as Java man, Peking man, and Heidelberg man) that have a smaller cranial capacity than modern humans (Homo sapiens) but a greater cranial capacity than the australopithecines, prominent eyebrow ridges, a receding forehead, constriction of the skull behind the eye sockets, and relatively large canine and incisor teeth and that were formerly considered to comprise a genus (Pithecanthropus) but are now grouped in a single species (Homo erectus) -- pithecanthropine adj