biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...

, robustness is used to describe a

taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

with a stronger and heavier build ( morphology) when compared to a related

gracile Gracility is slenderness, the condition of being gracile, which means slender. It derives from the Latin adjective ''gracilis'' ( masculine or feminine), or ''gracile'' ( neuter), which in either form means slender, and when transferred for exa ...

taxon. The terms are used in contrast to one another. The term is used by

physical anthropologists Biological anthropology, also known as physical anthropology, is a scientific discipline concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings, their extinct hominin ancestors, and related non-human primates, particularly from an ...

and paleoanthropologists to refer to a big-

bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

d and muscular body. For example, members of the genus '' Sapajus'' have robust body types and are called the

robust capuchin monkey Robust capuchin monkeys are capuchin monkeys in the genus ''Sapajus''. Formerly, all capuchin monkeys were placed in the genus '' Cebus''. ''Sapajus'' was erected in 2012 by Jessica Lynch Alfaro et al. to differentiate the robust (tufted) capuchi ...

s while members of the genus '' Cebus'' have gracile body types and are called the gracile capuchin monkeys. Male and female members of the same species may display

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...

and have robust and gracile morphologies. The terms "robust" vs. "gracile" are used in the context of

human evolution Human evolution is the evolutionary process within the history of primates that led to the emergence of '' Homo sapiens'' as a distinct species of the hominid family, which includes the great apes. This process involved the gradual developmen ...

, to distinguish: *"robust" vs. "gracile" australopithecines, see '' Paranthropus'' *"robust"

archaic humans A number of varieties of '' Homo'' are grouped into the broad category of archaic humans in the period that precedes and is contemporary to the emergence of the earliest early modern humans (''Homo sapiens'') around 300 ka. Omo-Kibish I (Omo I) f ...

vs. "gracile" anatomically modern humans *"robust" early modern humans (

Cro-Magnon Early European modern humans (EEMH), or Cro-Magnons, were the first early modern humans (''Homo sapiens'') to settle in Europe, migrating from Western Asia, continuously occupying the continent possibly from as early as 56,800 years ago. They i ...

) vs. "gracile"

Epipaleolithic In archaeology, the Epipalaeolithic or Epipaleolithic (sometimes Epi-paleolithic etc.) is a period occurring between the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic during the Stone Age. Mesolithic also falls between these two periods, and the two are somet ...

humans (

Combe-Capelle Combe-Capelle is a Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic site situated in the Couze valley in the Périgord region of Southern France. Henri-Marc Ami carried out excavations in the area from the late 1920s until his death in 1931. The famous ''Homo sap ...

)

References

Animal anatomy Morphology (biology) {{biology-stub