Meganthropus
Meganthropus
a large humanoid fossil primate. There are two species—Javan Meganthropus and African Meganthropus. The first is represented by fragments of two lower jaws with several teeth discovered in 1941 and 1953 on the island of Java. Fragments of the upper jaw with two teeth and a separate molar belonging to the second species were found in 1939 near Lake Victoria in East Africa. Geologically, Meganthropus belongs to the middle of the Anthropogenic System (Period). Some scientists assign Meganthropus to Pithecanthropus, and others to Australopithecus.