Meganthropus

From Wikinfo

Meganthropus is a subspecies of the extinct hominid species, Homo erectus. Its full name in binomial nomenclature is Homo erectus meganthropus. Meganthropus was given a subspecies classification to distinguish it from other fossilized representatives of Homo erectus on account of its enormous size. Based on scant, but adequate, existing fossilized remains, Homo erectus meganthropus has been estimated to have stood roughly 9 feet tall and wieghed roughly 750 to 1000 pounds. Remains of this subspecies, remnants of its cranium, lower jaw, and femur, have been estimated to be roughly 1 million years old. It was once called Maganthropus paleo.

Meganthropus is good example of the great variation that existed in the Homo erectus line that is only equalled among represenatatives of the Homo genus by the similar variations found in modern man. Its remains were discovered in Indonesia and in Australia where another anomolous variation of Homo erectus, Homo erectus soloensis, has also been discovered. Although once not considered to be of the Homo genus due to its seemingly improbable size for a hominid, Meganthropus remains were found along with tools normally associated with the Acheulean era, but of great size, making it difficult to refute the intelligence of the titanic hominid.