Homo habilis was an early human species that existed between 2.8 and 1.5 million years ago. Scientists discovered their remains in Olduvai Gorge and gave them the name
Homo habilis, meaning handy man, because it was believed that they were responsible for making many of the tools found at Olduvai Gorge. The tools made by the Homo habilis were made from volcanic rock cobbles. It is believed that the tools were used for scavenging as opens to being used as weapons. This ability to make and use tools for survival is what characterizes the species Homo habilis as humans, different from primates.
It is believed that the beginnings of what we think of as 'home' began during the time of the Homo habilis. Because the children of this species would not have been able to cling, as primate babies do, to their mothers, they would have had to remain in a 'home' of sorts, while the adults went in search of food. This was an evolutionary change of early Homo species.
Homo habilis had a short body and long ape-like arms like the australopithecines. But they were distinguished from earlier hominids by their big brain (about 630 cubic centimetres) and small teeth.
The species evolved in Africa at a time when traditional forest foods like fruit were becoming scarce, forcing animals to seek out new nutritional sources.
Homo habilis ate meat by scavenging from animal carcasses. But snatching meat from under the noses of fearsome predators like lions was a risky business.
However, Homo habilis had a secret weapon: stone tools. Crude stone implements were used to smash open animal bones and extract the nutritious bone marrow.
Homo habilis lived in East Africa at the same time as Paranthropus boisei. But they occupied different ecological niches and so were not direct competitors. While habilis was an omnivore, boisei survived on a hard-to-chew vegetarian diet.
Homo erectus, (Latin: “upright man”) extinct species of the human genus, perhaps an ancestor of modern humans (Homo sapiens). Homo erectus most likely originated in Africa, though Eurasia cannot be ruled out. Regardless of where it first evolved, the species seems to have dispersed quickly, starting about 1.9 million years ago near the middle of the Pleistocene Epoch, moving through the African tropics, Europe, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. This history has been recorded directly if imprecisely by many sites that have yielded fossil remains of Homo erectus. At other localities, broken animal bones and stone tools have indicated the presence of the species, though there are no traces of the people themselves. Homo erectus was a human of medium stature that walked upright. The braincase was low, the forehead was receded, and the nose, jaws, and palate were wide. The brain was smaller and the teeth larger than in modern humans. Homo erectus appears to have been the first human species to control fire, some
1,000,000 years ago. The species seems to have flourished until some 200,000 years ago or perhaps later before giving way to other humans including Homo sapiens.
Homo erectus is thought to have evolved in Africa from Homo habilis, the first member of the genus Homo. Anatomically and physiologically, Homo erectus resembles contemporary humans except for a stouter bone structure. The size of its braincase approaches that of Homo sapiens, but the cranial bones are more massive than either those of Homo habilis or modern humans.
The material culture of Homo erectus was significantly more complex than that of its predecessors, including stone tools, a variety of tools fashioned from wood and other perishable materials, the use of fire, and seasonally occupied, oval-shaped huts. Evidence of extensive cooperative behaviour is abundant in a number of European habitation and hunting. Homo erectus populations occupied these sites seasonally, while pursuing an annual subsistence cycle based on a combination of big-game hunting and the gathering of shellfish and plant foods.
Homo erectus dispersed into Asia more than 1.3 million years ago, and into Europe by at least 400,000 years ago, and after disappearing elsewhere may have survived on Java as late as 108,000 years ago.
The species that you and all other living human beings on this planet belong to is Homo sapiens. During a time of dramatic climate change 300,000 years ago, Homo sapiens evolved in Africa. Like other early humans that were living at this time, they gathered and hunted food, and evolved behaviours that helped them respond to the challenges of survival in unstable environments. Anatomically, modern humans can generally be characterised by the lighter build of their skeletons compared to earlier humans. Modern humans have very large brains, which vary in size from population to population and between males and females, but the average size is approximately 1300 cubic centimetres. Housing this big brain involved the reorganisation of the skull into what is thought of as "modern" - a thin-walled, high vaulted skull with a flat and near vertical forehead. Modern human faces also show much less (if any) of the heavy brow ridges and prognathism of other early humans. Our jaws are also less heavily developed, with smaller teeth.
Our own species, Homo sapiens, evolved in Africa around 150,000 years ago. Homo sapiens have a characteristic look: their faces are small and tucked under a high, domed braincase. They have small eyebrow ridges and their lower jaw ends in a prominent chin. On average, their bodies are less muscular than those of earlier hominids.
The appearance of modern humans coincides with the appearance of highly crafted tools, efficient food-gathering strategies and a complex social organisation.
Early modern humans lived in mobile groups and established extensive social networks to trade goods and exchange gifts. These networks probably developed for the purpose of securing future favours when times were hard. And it seems that times were indeed hard for some of the first modern humans.
During the last Ice Age, humans were pushed to the edge of extinction, perhaps by famine and drought caused by a sharp drop in global temperatures. For these early modern humans, an increased reliance on social alliances and creativity was key to their survival.
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Australopithecus afarensis walked upright like a human, but its body proportions were like those of a chimpanzee. Like chimps, afarensis had a small brain, long, dangly arms, short legs and a cone-shaped torso with a large belly.
Around 3.2 million years ago, this bipedal ape roamed a mixed habitat of savannah and woodland beside lakes and floodplains. It foraged for fruit, seeds and nuts and may even have eaten some meat.
Australopithecus afarensis probably climbed into trees to avoid sabre-toothed cats like Dinofelis and to sleep in safety at night.
This hominin seems to have lived in social groups of between 20 and 30. These groups were probably like those of chimpanzees, with dominance hierarchies in which each individual knows their place. Male afarensis probably cooperated to drive away predators. Once mature, females may have joined other troops of afarensis.
Australopithecus afarensis was competent at walking upright on two legs, and skeletal features indicate it did so regularly. However, it may not have walked in exactly the same way as we do or been able to walk long distances efficiently.
Anatomical features associated with upright walking are present in the spine, pelvis, legs and feet. These include a broad pelvis and a femur that is angled inwards towards the knee so that the centre of gravity lies directly above the foot.
Since our closest living relatives, chimpanzees, as well as other apes and monkeys, have been observed making and using simple tools, it is likely that all hominins made use of tools to some extent.
No tools have yet been directly associated with Australopithecus afarensis. However, Australopithecus species had hands that were well suited for the controlled manipulation of objects, and they probably did use tools.