When Linnaeus defined humans as Homo sapiens in 1758, they were the only members of the genus Homo. The first other species to be classified a Homo was H. neanderthalensis, classified in 1864. Since then, ten additional extinct species have been classified as Homo. In a common misunderstanding of evolutionary theory, each species represents a stage in the evolutionary track, some "more evolved" and others further behind. Based on this misunderstanding, scientists thought of humans as having descended from modern apes and expected to find the "missing link," a living species halfway between apes and humans. Remnants of beliefs related to the Great Chain of Being were not only the origin of the term "missing link", but through the concept that a perfect creator would create things perfectly, extinction would be impossible and any species that ever lived would still be alive in some part of the world, awaiting discovery.