Definition of: Pithecanthropus

(pith′ə·kan′thrə·pəs, -kan·thrō′pəs) noun plural ·pi (-pī) noun Paleontol.
The type genus of two small–brained Pleistocene primates transitional between ape and man: P. erectus, represented by a fossil cranium, femur, and other fragments discovered near Trinil, central Java, in 1891; and P. robustus, based upon skeletal remains found in the same area about 1938. Also called Java man, Trinil man. [<NL <Gk. pithēkos an ape + anthrōpos a man]
—pith′e·can′thro·pine (-pēn, -pin) adjective