AS OUR understanding of evolution evolves, so do the terms we use to describe the relationships between species. “Hominin” is intended to clarify the links between humans and their nearest relatives. Instead it has caused immense confusion. Here’s the first tip: hominin is not a typo for the older and more familiar term “hominid”.
This year is the 300th birthday of Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy and the person who, unwittingly, is to blame for the confusion. According to his classification system, all living things should be identifiable by a simple chain of “taxons”: kingdom, phylum, class, order,…
