Homo sapiens idaltu

[ hoh-moh sey-pee-uhnz i-dahl-too ]

noun

1. an extinct subspecies of Homo sapiens that lived in Africa during the Pleistocene Epoch and is believed to be the likely immediate ancestor of the modern human ( Homo sapiens sapiens ): the first fossil specimen was discovered in Herto Bouri, Ethiopia, in 1997.
2. a fossil belonging to this species.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Homo sapiens idaltu¹

First recorded in 2000–05; from New Latin; Homo sapiens ( def ) + Afar idaltu “first born, elder”

Example Sentences

Tim White, head of the Laboratory for Human Evolutionary Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, has discovered many of our ancestors, from the ancient Ardipithecus to the much more recent Homo sapiens idaltu.

From Scientific American

White and his colleagues think these hominids are distinctive enough to merit their own subspecies, which the team has dubbed Homo sapiens idaltu.

From Time Magazine Archive