Reconstruction of KNM-ER 1813 at the Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Germany
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Primates
Suborder:
Haplorhini
Infraorder:
Simiiformes
Family:
Hominidae
Subfamily:
Homininae
Tribe:
Hominini
Genus:
Homo
Species:
†H. habilis
Binomial name
†Homo habilis
Leakey et al., 1964
Synonyms[1]
Australopithecus habilis Wood and Collard, 1999
Homo microcranous Ferguson, 1995
Homo gautengensis? Curnoe, 2010
Homo rudolfensis? Alexeev, 1986
Homo habilis ("handy man") is an extinct species of archaic human from the Early Pleistocene of East and South Africa about 2.8 million years ago to 1.65 million years ago (mya). Upon species description in 1964, H. habilis was highly contested, with many researchers recommending it be synonymised with Australopithecus africanus, the only other early hominin known at the time, but H. habilis received more recognition as time went on and more relevant discoveries were made. By the 1980s, H. habilis was proposed to have been a human ancestor, directly evolving into Homo erectus which directly led to modern humans. This viewpoint is now debated. Several specimens with insecure species identification were assigned to H. habilis, leading to arguments for splitting, namely into "H. rudolfensis" and "H. gautengensis" of which only the former has received wide support.
Like contemporary Homo, H. habilis brain size generally varied from 500–900 cm3 (31–55 cu in). The body proportions of H. habilis are only known from two highly fragmentary skeletons, and is based largely on assuming a similar anatomy to the earlier australopithecines. Because of this, it has also been proposed H. habilis be moved to the genus Australopithecus as Australopithecus habilis. However, the interpretation of H. habilis as a small-statured human with inefficient long-distance travel capabilities has been challenged. The presumed female specimen OH 62 is traditionally interpreted as having been 100–120 cm (3 ft 3 in – 3 ft 11 in) in height and 20–37 kg (44–82 lb) in weight assuming australopithecine-like proportions, but assuming humanlike proportions she would have been about 148 cm (4 ft 10 in) and 35 kg (77 lb). Nonetheless, H. habilis may have been at least partially arboreal like what is postulated for australopithecines. Early hominins are typically reconstructed as having thick hair and marked sexual dimorphism with males much larger than females, though relative male and female size is not definitively known.
H. habilis manufactured the Oldowan stone-tool industry and mainly used tools in butchering. Early Homo, compared to australopithecines, are generally thought to have consumed high quantities of meat and, in the case of H. habilis, scavenged meat. Typically, early hominins are interpreted as having lived in polygynous societies, though this is highly speculative. Assuming H. habilis society was similar to that of modern savanna chimpanzees and baboons, groups may have numbered 70–85 members. This configuration would be advantageous with multiple males to defend against open savanna predators, such as big cats, hyenas and crocodiles. H. habilis coexisted with H. rudolfensis, H. ergaster / H. erectus and Paranthropus boisei.
^Antón, S. C. (2012). "Early Homo: Who, When, and Where". Current Anthropology. 53 (6): 279. doi:10.1086/667695. S2CID 84830570.
Like contemporary Homo, H. habilis brain size generally varied from 500–900 cm3 (31–55 cu in). The body proportions of H. habilis are only known from...
including Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalensis. The oldest member of the genus is Homohabilis, with records of just over 2 million years ago. Homo, together...
Homo, though they both agreed that the remains could belong to habilis. KNM-ER 1470 was much larger than the Olduvai remains, so the terms H. habilis...
Kenya. The earliest member of the genus Homo is Homohabilis which evolved around 2.8 million years ago. H. habilis is the first species for which we have...
between Stw 53 and H. habilis by Curnoe was that some of the tooth crowns of Stw 53 were larger than the average tooth crowns of H. habilis whereas other tooth...
species of Homo (alongside H. habilis and H. erectus) at about 2 million years ago, or alternatively as transitional between Australopithecus and Homo. Wood...
appearance of genus Homo takes place around 2.8 million years ago with Homohabilis, followed by Homo erectus at around 1.8 million years ago, Homo neanderthalensis...
Neanderthals (/niˈændərˌtɑːl, neɪ-, -ˌθɑːl/ nee-AN-də(r)-TAHL, nay-, -THAHL; Homo neanderthalensis or H. sapiens neanderthalensis) are an extinct group of...
australopithecines as well as earlier and more basal species of Homo, such as H. habilis. Among these features are their larger body mass, relatively long...
Homo longi is an extinct species of archaic human identified from a nearly complete skull, nicknamed 'Dragon Man', from Harbin on the Northeast China Plain...
Homo luzonensis, also locally called "Ubag" after a mythical caveman, is an extinct, possibly pygmy, species of archaic human from the Late Pleistocene...
specimen LD 350-1 from Ethiopia, and the earliest named species are Homohabilis and Homo rudolfensis which evolved by 2.3 million years ago. H. erectus (the...
off very early from contemporaneous Homo. It is unclear whether they branched off at around the time of H. habilis, H. rudolfensis, and A. sediba, are...
species to either H. habilis or to a minimally habilis-erectus-ergaster-sapiens clade, and its line much more ancient than Homo erectus itself. Argue...
archaic humans. The third molar is outside the range of any Homo species except H. habilis and H. rudolfensis, and is more like those of australopithecines...
However, in conjunction with dental evolution, it is expected that Homohabilis would display smaller teeth than those of the hominids before them. Furthermore...
be considered Homohabilis, or a form of early Homo or late Australopithecus closely related to Homohabilis, or a very early form of Homo erectus. In any...
paniscus HomohabilisHomo rudolfensis Homo ergaster Homo erectus Homo antecessor Homo heidelbergensis Homo naledi Homo neanderthalensis Homo denisova Homo sapiens...
same (presumably australopithecine) ancestor as H. habilis, making it a sister taxon to H. habilis. H. floresiensis would thus represent a hitherto unknown...
and fossils of Paranthropus boisei and Homohabilis, as does Bed II, 1.7 to 1.2 mya. H. habilis gave way to Homo erectus at about 1.6 mya, but P. boisei...
(EMH), or anatomically modern human (AMH), are terms used to distinguish Homo sapiens (the only extant Hominina species) that are anatomically consistent...
interpreted as either a distinct species, Homo rudolfensis, or alternatively as evidence of sexual dimorphism in Homohabilis. In 1967, Richard Leakey reported...
Humankind gradually evolved from early members of the genus Homo—such as Homohabilis, who used simple stone tools—into anatomically modern humans as...
uncovering further evidence for australopithecines, as well as for Homohabilis and Homo erectus. The scientific community took 20 more years to widely accept...
subtribe are generally Australopithecus (cladistically including the genera Homo, Paranthropus, and Kenyanthropus), and it typically includes the earlier...
the major events in the evolutionary lineage of the modern human species, Homo sapiens, throughout the history of life, beginning some 4 billion years ago...
derived from the more primitive Oldowan technology associated with Homohabilis. The Acheulean includes at least the early part of the Middle Paleolithic...
the genus Homo developed out of the ancestral genus Australopithecus. While the oldest known fossils unambiguously identified as Homohabilis date to just...
Homo heidelbergensis (also H. erectus heidelbergensis, H. sapiens heidelbergensis) is an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human which existed during...
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