Abstract: The comparisons of maxillary dental fossils of Homo erectus and early Homo sapiens found in China show that most of the dental measurements of early Homo sapiens are within the ranges of Homo erectus, except the central incisor breadth which is larger in early Homo sapiens. Almost all the dental nonmetric characters of Homo erectus can be found in early Homo sapiens. The results of the comparisons suggest that there may not be a clear species boundary between Homo erectus and early Homo sapiens, and the opinion that Homo erectus should be merged with early Homo sapiens is accept- able by the present study.
The comparisons of present study also show that the dental remains from Tongzi, Yiyuan, Yunxian, Luonan and Xichuan may be reclassified as early Homo sapiens, although these fossils have been believed to be Homo erectus.

Key words: Homo erectus; Early Homo sapiens; Dentition