Evolution of Hominids: Genus Homo

H. Habilis: 2.4-1.4 mya

1 CE

*A team led by scientists Louis and Mary Leakey uncovered the fossilized remains of a unique early human between 1960 and 1963 at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania
*Height: average 3 ft 4 in - 4 ft 5 in (100 - 135 cm)
*cranial capacity: 1450cc

*omnivorous diet
*thought to have made the first stone tools, hence the nickename “handy man”.
(Human Origins)

H. Rudolfensis: 1.9-1.8 mya

2

• Richard Leakey’s team uncovered Homo Rudolfensis fossils near the shores of Lake Rudolf (now known as Lake Turkana) in 1972 *Height average (male and female) 4.9 ft (oswego) *cranial capacity: 775cc *omnivorous diet *first crude stone tools (?) simple choppers (australianmuseum) *bipedal (Human Origins)

H. Erectus: 1.89 mya-143,000 ya

3

*Eugène Dubois, a Dutch surgeon, found the first Homo erectus in Indonesia in 1891
*Height: Ranges from 4 ft 9 in - 6 ft 1 in (145 - 185 cm)
*1000 cc (range: 850–1100 cc) (macro evolution.com)
*omnivorous diet
*earliest handaxes
*bipedal

H. Georgicus: 1.77 mya

4

*Discovered in Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia in 1991 by a team led by Georgian paleoanthropologist David Lordkipanidze
*small. Males stood only about four feet (1.3 m) tall, and the females were even smaller.
*bipedal
*cranial capacity: around 600cc
*omnivorous diet
*used crude stone tools
(Macro Evolution)

H. Heidelbergensis: 700,000-200,000 ya

5

*In 1908 near Heidelberg, Germany, a workman found the type specimen of H. heidelbergensis in the Rösch sandpit just north of the village of Mauer.
*Height: Males: average 5 ft 9 in (175 cm); Females: average 5 ft 2 in (157 cm)
*cranial capacity: 1125cc (efossils)
*omnivorous diet
*heavily built
(Human Origins)

H. Sapiens: 200,000 ya-present

6

*Modern humans now have an average height of about 160 centimetres (5'3") in females and 175 centimetres (5'7") in males.
*cranial capacity: 1300cc
*omnivorous diet
*many technological advances.
*lighter build, smaller teeth and jaws.
(Australian museum)
(Human Origins)