Neoteny in humans Neoteny in humans Neoteny in humans is the retention of juvenile features well into adulthood. This trend is greatly amplified in humans especially when compared to non-human primates. Adult humans more closely resemble the infants of gorillas and chimpanzees than the adults. Neotenic features of the head include the globular skull thinness of skull bones; the reduction of the brow ridge; the large brain; the flattened and broadened face; the hairless face; hair on (top of) the head; larger eyes; ear shape; small nose; small teeth; and the small maxilla (upper jaw) and mandible (lower jaw). Neoteny of the human
Archaic humans In this case the standard taxonomy is used, i.e. "Homo rhodesiensis", or "Homo neanderthalensis". The evolutionary dividing lines that separate modern humans from archaic humans and archaic humans from "Homo erectus" are unclear. The earliest known fossils of anatomically modern humans such as the Omo remains from 195,000 years ago, "Homo sapiens idaltu" from 160,000 years ago, and Qafzeh remains from 90,000 years ago are recognizably modern humans. However, these early modern humans do possess a number of archaic traits, such as moderate, but not prominent, brow ridges. The emergence of archaic humans is sometimes used as an example of