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Homo habilis (2.3 to 1.6 million years ago)
Species Description:
Homo habilis has been a controversial species since
it was first described in the mid-1960s. Originally, many scientists did not
accept its validity, believing that all specimens should be assigned either to
the genus Australopithecus or to Homo erectus. Today, H.
habilis is widely accepted as a species.
Some scientists, however, still
believe that many of the earliest fossils assigned to H. habilis are
too fragmented and separated in time for conclusions about their relationships
or species compositions to be possible. H. habilis specimens with
particularly large features -- brains or teeth, for instance -- are sometimes
assigned as Homo rudolfensis.
Homo habilis, "handy man," is so called because of
the wealth of tools that have been found with its fossils. The average H.
habilis brain was considerably larger than the average Australopithecus
brain. The brain shape is also more humanlike. The bulge of Broca's area, essential
for speech, is visible in one H. habilis brain cast, indicating that the
species may have been capable of rudimentary speech. The average H. habilis
individual is thought to have been about five feet tall and 100 pounds, although
females may have been smaller.
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Fossil Finds:
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The Mystery Skull (debated)
Estimated age: 1.85 million years
Date of discovery: 1973
Location: Koobi Fora, Kenya
The mystery of this specimen's identity may never be
solved. This cranium is so different from any other specimen that there
is still no consensus about what it really is. The sagittal crest resembles
a common A. boisei trait, but the teeth are too small to be from that
species. |
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Dik-dik Hominid
Estimated age: 1.8 million years
Date of discovery: 1986
Location: Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
This is a typical hominid fossil specimen, made up of
very small fragments. The height of this H. habilis individual,
estimated at 3 feet 5 inches tall based on arm and leg bone lengths, is
very small for the species. It was most likely a female. |
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Olduvai George
Estimated age: 1.7 million years
Date of discovery: 1963
Location: Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
Cattle trampled this specimen before it was found, so
much of the skull was lost. It consists of teeth and skull fragments. |
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KNM-ER 1470
Estimated age: 1.9 million years
Location: Koobi Fora, Kenya
This is the most complete H. habilis skull known.
The brain case is much larger than any australopithecine skull and lacks the
large brow ridges typical of Homo erectus. Some people call this
specimen H. rudolfensis. |
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Evidence of Culture:
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Oldowan stone tools
Estimated age: 1.8 million years
Location: Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
These tools, like most others from the same period, were
made by chipping pieces from chunks of volcanic rock to reveal sharp, jagged
edges. |
-> Go to Homo erectus
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