ABSTRACT
The classification of living human populations or of samples of fossil hominids is a branch of animal taxonomy. There is one practical difference between animal and hominid taxonomy. Hominid remains are of significance that even rather incomplete specimens may be of vital importance. The material of taxonomy consists of zoological objects. These objects are individuals or parts of individuals who, in nature, were members of populations. There have been several previous attempts to apply the principles of systematic zoology to some of the open problems of hominid classification. All attempts to trace hominid phylogeny still deal with typological models. When one reads the older anthropological literature with its rich proliferation of generic names, one has the impression of large numbers of species of fossil man and other hominids coexisting with each other. Of the literally scores of generic names proposed for fossil hominids, very few deserve recognition.
