hominin

noun

hom·i·nin | \ ˈhä-mə-nən

, -ˌnin\

Definition of hominin

: any of a taxonomic tribe (Hominini) of hominids that includes recent humans together with extinct ancestral and related forms

Examples of hominin in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Over eons, plant and animal remains (not to mention hominins) have been found in the caves. — Lydia Pyne, Ars Technica, "Rising Star found a new species—now it wants to find a new way for paleoanthropology," 20 Dec. 2018 Bipedalism is a key distinguishing feature of hominins, and the lumbar curve in the lower back remains a distinguishing feature of humans. — Nathan Mattise, Ars Technica, "Science after hours: Barney’s aquatic traits and how pregnant women stay upright," 24 Feb. 2018 Before Rising Star, however, no fossil hominin excavation had been so instantly shared across the world. — Lydia Pyne, Ars Technica, "Rising Star found a new species—now it wants to find a new way for paleoanthropology," 20 Dec. 2018 Many of the bones seem to bear the marks of butchering by tool-wielding hominins. — Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, "Archaeologists find 300,000-year-old stone tools in Saudi Arabia," 29 Oct. 2018 The girl reportedly had a Denisovan father and Neanderthal mother, two species of hominins (a classification group that evolved into modern humans). — Prince Shakur, Teen Vogue, "Scientists Discover Remains of an Ancient Human Hybrid," 25 Aug. 2018 The study helps settle a long-standing debate about how quickly our ancestors developed a humanlike gait, and shows that ancient hominins didn’t have to sacrifice climbing agility to walk upright efficiently. — Ann Gibbons, Science | AAAS, "Our tree-climbing human ancestors could walk upright like us, study of chimps and other primates shows," 2 Apr. 2018 There were likely many species or populations of hominins that left Africa, only to die out somewhere in their journey across the globe. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "Oldest Stone Tools Outside Africa Unearthed in China," 12 July 2018 Thanks to greater capacity for language, this may be a common trait shared by hominins but probably not our last common ancestor with the other great apes. — Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, "Homo naledi’s brain: Like ours, but smaller," 14 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hominin.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.