An outdated anthropological classification for indigenous peoples of Australia and nearby regions, based on physical characteristics rather than modern genetic analysis.
From Australi- plus the suffix -oid (resembling), following 19th-century anthropological naming conventions. Now considered scientifically invalid and culturally insensitive.
Australoid is a fossil word—it survives in older anthropology texts but is actively rejected by modern scientists and indigenous communities alike. It's a reminder that our oldest scientific classifications often embedded racist assumptions that modern genetics completely disproved.
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