Nebraska Man
Hombre de Nebraska
- Date
- 1922 · confidence high
- Place
- New York City, New York, United States
- Credited to
- Henry Fairfield Osborn
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
A supposed North American higher primate species, Hesperopithecus haroldcookii, described by Henry Fairfield Osborn from a tooth found in Nebraska in 1917, whose identification proved mistaken and was retracted in 1927.
The original classification as a primate was a mistake: the tooth belonged to an extinct peccary (Prosthennops), and it was retracted in 1927.
What it led to
- a famous example of scientific error in paleontology
- used by creationists to challenge the theory of evolution
- prompted more rigorous review of fragmentary remains