Walter Alves Neves (Três Pontas, October 17, 1957)[1][2] is a Brazilian biologist, archeologist, anthropologist and a retired professor from the Department of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology of the Institute of Biosciences at the University of São Paulo [pt].

[3] Neves was born in Três Pontas, Minas Gerais, the second son of a bricklayer father and a saleswoman mother, and moved to São Bernardo do Campo in 1970.

[citation needed] His model of two main biological components is often adopted for the understanding of the origin and dispersion of anatomically modern humans in the American continent.

[13] Walter Neves was not the discoverer of the fossil of Luzia, but he was the one who had access to the skull, which was in the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, and who prepared more detailed studies of the piece.

[1] Neves has been engaged in an academic discussion with archaeologist Niéde Guidon over the last few decades regarding the dating of man's arrival in America.

[15] After the results were released, Neves said, "From my point of view, this is incontrovertible evidence that the artifacts were made by humans",(...) "She deserves this credit".