The Collaborative International Dictionary
Pithecanthropus \Pith`e*can*thro"pus\ (p[i^]th`[-e]*k[a^]n*thr[=o]"p[u^]s), prop. n. [NL.; Gr. pi`qhkos ape + 'a`nqrwpos man.]
A hypothetical genus of primates intermediate between man and the anthropoid apes.
--Haeckel.A genus consisting of an extinct primate ( Pithecanthropus erectus) apparently intermediate between man and the existing anthropoid apes, known from bones first found in Java (hence called Java man) in 1891-92, and other bones found later. The species was renamed Homo erectus around 1960. The Javan bones are believed to be from 1.6 to 1.9 million years old, and include a thigh bone of the human type, two molar teeth intermediate between those of man and the anthropoids, and the calvaria of the skull, indicating a brain capacity of about 900 cubic centimeters, and resembling in form that of the Neanderthal man. Additional specimens of what are considerd as variants of the species have been found in China, Africa, and Europe. Homo erectus is currently believed to have evolved in Africa from Homo habilis, the first member of the genus Homo. Anatomically and physiologically, Homo erectus resembles contemporary humans except for having a stouter bone structure. Also [pl. -thropi], an animal of this genus. -- Pith`e*can"thrope, n. -- Pith`e*can"thro*poid, a.
Wikipedia
Java Man (Homo erectus erectus) is the popular name given to early human fossils discovered on the island of Java ( Indonesia) in 1891 and 1892. Led by Eugène Dubois, the excavation team uncovered a tooth, a skullcap, and a thighbone at Trinil on the banks of the Solo River in East Java. Arguing that the fossils represented the " missing link" between apes and humans, Dubois gave the species the scientific name Anthropopithecus erectus, then later renamed it Pithecanthropus erectus.
The fossil aroused much controversy. Less than ten years after 1891, almost eighty books or articles had been published on Dubois's finds. Despite Dubois' argument, few accepted that Java Man was a transitional form between apes and humans. Some dismissed the fossils as apes and others as modern humans, whereas many scientists considered Java Man as a primitive side branch of evolution not related to modern humans at all. In the 1930s Dubois made the claim that Pithecanthropus was built like a "giant gibbon", a much misinterpreted attempt by Dubois to prove that it was the "missing link".
Eventually, similarities between Pithecanthropus erectus (Java Man) and Sinanthropus pekinensis ( Peking Man) led Ernst Mayr to rename both Homo erectus in 1950, placing them directly in the human evolutionary tree. To distinguish Java Man from other Homo erectus populations, some scientists began to regard it as a subspecies, Homo erectus erectus, in the 1970s. Other fossils found in the first half of the twentieth century in Java at Sangiran and Mojokerto, all older than those found by Dubois, are also considered part of the species Homo erectus. Estimated to be between 700,000 and 1,000,000 years old, at the time of their discovery the fossils of Java Man were the oldest hominin fossils ever found. The fossils of Java Man have been housed at the Naturalis in the Netherlands since 1900.
Usage examples of "java man".
The first human ancestor to spread beyond Africa was Homo erectus, as is attested by fossils discovered on the Southeast Asian island of Java and conventionally known as Java man (see Figure 1.
Zinjanthropus is an example of a small-brained hominid and there are other varieties, too, such as those popularly known as Java man and Peking man from the sites at which the first skeletal remains were discovered.
But what are you suggesting--that _Homo sapiens_ is about to transform himself into Cro-Magnon and Java Man, and ultimately into _Sinanthropus_?
He guessed that it represented either a very high order of ape or a very low order of man--something akin to the Java man, perhaps.