paleoanthropology

play

noun pa·leo·an·thro·pol·o·gy \ˌpā-lē-ō-ˌan(t)-thrə-ˈpä-lə-jē, especially British ˌpa-\

Definition of paleoanthropology

: a branch of anthropology dealing with fossil hominids

paleoanthropological

play \ˌpā-lē-ō-ˌan(t)-thrə-pə-ˈlä-ji-kəl, especially British ˌpa-\ adjective

paleoanthropologist

play \ˌpā-lē-ō-ˌan(t)-thrə-ˈpä-lə-jist, especially British ˌpa-\ noun

Recent Examples of paleoanthropology from the Web

An evolution of ideas sheds new light The Jebel Irhoud fossils themselves are an example of how paleoanthropology has evolved over the decades.

— eva botkin-kowacki, The Christian Science Monitor, "Just how Earth-shattering are those 300,000-year-old Homo sapiens fossils?", 8 June 2017
This neither proves the the hypothesis or conclusively disproves it—but that’s the challenge of working with scant evidence in paleoanthropology.

— sarah zhang, The Atlantic, "A New Addition to the Human Family Tree is Surprisingly Young", 9 May 2017
The discovery spoke to the big question confronting British paleoanthropology.

— National Geographic, "Meet 7 Celebrity Fossils and Find Out What Made Them Famous", 25 Sep. 2016

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