Hominid Evolution: Original Hominid Species Type Journal Articles

Compiled by Charles J. Vella, PhD, Sept. 2012

Homo neantherthalensis:

1856: Schaaffhausen, H. 1853. Űber Bestandigkeit und Umwandlung der Arten. Verh. Naturhist. Vereins Preussischen Rheinlande und Westphalens 10: 420-451

1858: Schaaffhausen, H. 1858. Zur Kentniss der ältesten Rassenschädel. [On the crania of the most ancient races of man]. Nat. Hist. Rev. 1: 155-176, 1861 (translation with introduction by G. Busk)

1863: King, W. 1863. The Neanderthal skull. Anthrop. Rev. 1: 393-94 [type designation]

1864: King, W., 1864. The reputed fossil man of the Neanderthal. Quarterly Review of Science 1, 88-97.

The type specimen for H. neanderthalensis is Neanderthal 1 from the Neander Valley in Germany. This specimen dates between 40 Ka and 50 Ka.

Homo erectus:

1891: Dubois, E. 1891. Palaeontologische onderzoekingen op Java. Verslag van het Mijnwezen 9: 12-15

1894: Dubois, E. 1894. Pithecanthropus erectus, eine menschenähnliche Uebergangsform aus Java. Batavia: Landersdruckerei.

The type specimen for H. erectus is the Trinil 2 calotte. Dubois named a new species, Pithecanthropus erectus after this specimen in 1894, but Ernst Mayr reassigned Trinil 2 to Homo erectus in the 1950s. . This specimen dates between 1.89 million and 143,00 thousand years ago. Homo heidelbergensis:

1908: Schoetensack, O., 1908. Der Unterkiefer des Homo heidelbergensis aus den Sanden von Mauer bei Heidelberg. Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann. The type specimen is the Mauer 1 mandible. This specimen dates between 500,000 to 400,000 years ago.

Piltdown Hoax (“Eoanthropus dawsoni”):

1913: Dawson, C., and A. S. Woodward. 1913. On the discovery of a Palaeolithic human skull and mandible in a flint-bearing gravel overlaying the Wealden (Hastings Beds) at Piltdown, Fletchling (Sussex) Quart. J. Geol. Soc. London 69: 117-151

1953: W. S. Weiner, K. P. Oakley, Wilfred Le Gros Clark. 1953. The Solution of the Piltdown Problem. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Geology Nov. 1953.

Announced in 1913; proved fraudulent in 1953 (human cranium; orangutan mandible).

Australopithecus africanus:

1925: Dart, R. A. 1925 Australopithecus africanus: the man-ape of South Africa. Nature 115: 195-199

The type specimen is the Taung 1 cranium. This specimen dates between

Mrs. Ples, STS 5

1947: Broom, R. 1947. Discovery of a new skull of the South African ape-man, Plesianthropus. Nature 159: 672

STS 14, vertebrae & pelvis

1947: Broom, R,.J.T. Robinson, and G. W.H. Schepers. 1950. Sterkfontein Ape-man Plesianthropus. Mem. Transvaal Mus. No. 4

STS 71 cranium

Broom, R., Robinson J.T., and G.W.H. Schepers, 1950. Sterfontein ape-man Pleisanthropus. Trans. Mus. Mem. No. 4

Paranthropus robustus: 1938: Broom, R., 1938. The Pleistocene anthropoid apes of South Africa. Nature 142, 377-379.

The type specimen is the TM 1517 mandible. This specimen dates to 2 million years.

1948: Broom, R. 1949. Another new type of fossil ape-man. Nature 163:57

The type specimen for A. crassidens is SK 6.

Paranthropus boisei:

1959: Leakey, L.S.B., 1959. A new fossil from Olduvai. Nature 184, 491-49.

Homo habilis:

1964: Leakey, L.S.B., Tobias, P.V., Napier, J., 1964. A new species of the genus Homo from Olduvai Gorge. Nature 202, 7–9.

The type specimen is the OH 5 cranium. This specimen dates to 1.8 million years

Paranthropus aethiopicus

1985: Walker, A.C., R.E. Leakey, J.M. Harris, and F.H. Brown. 1986. 2.5-Myr. Australopithecus boisei from west of Lake Turkana, Kenya. Nature 322: 517-522

The type specimen is KNM-WT 17000. This specimen dates to 2.5 million years.

Homo sapiens:

Homo sapiens does not have a true type specimen. Carl Linnaeus, in naming Homo sapiens, had not designated a type specimen, which in his day was not customarily done).

Homo rudolfensis:

1973: Leakey R.E. (1973): Evidence for an advanced Plio-Pleistocene Hominid from East Rudolf, Kenya, Nature, 242:447-50.

The type specimen is the KNM-ER 1470 cranium. This specimen dates to 1.8 million years Homo ergaster:

Naming

1975: Groves, C.P., And V. Mazak. 1975. “An approach to the taxonomy of the Hominidae: Gracile Villafranchian hominids of Africa.” In Casopis pro Mineralogii a Geologii, vol. 20, pp. 225–247.

Turkana boy:

1984: Brown, F., J. Harris, R. Leakey, and A. Walker. 1985. Early Homo erectus skeleton fromwest Lake Turkana, Kenya. Nature 316: 788-792

Australopithecus afarensis

1974: Leakey, M. D., R.L. Hay, G. H. Curtis, R.E. Drake, M,K. Jackes, and T. D. White. 1976. Fossil himinids from the Laetoli Beds,Tanzania. Nature 262: 460-465; and Leakey, M. D. and R. L. Hay. 1979. Pliocene footprints in the Laetolil Beds at Laetoli, northern Tanzania. Nature 278: 317-328.

1975: Taieb, M., D.C. Johanson, and Y. Coppens. 1975. Expedition international de l’Afar, Ethiopie (3 eme champagne 1974), decouverte d’Hominides plio-pleistocenes a Hadar. C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris 28: 1297-1300

Australopithecus afarensis, A. L. 288-1 “Lucy”:

1978: Taieb, M. D. C. Johanson, Y. Coppens, and J. J. Tiercelin. 1978. Expedition international de l’Afar, Ethiopie (4 eme et 5 eme Campagne 1975-1977): Chronostratigraphie des gisements a hominides Pliocene de l’Hadar et correlations avec les sites prehistorique de Kada Gona. C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris 287: 459-461

1978: Johanson, Donald C., Tim D. White, and Yves Coppens. 1978. A New Species of the Genus Australopithecus (Primates: Hominidae) from the Pliocene of Eastern Africa, Kirtlandia 28:2-14.

The type specimen for A. afarensis is LH 4, which was found at Laetoli (Tanzania), and dates between 3.7 and 3.4 million years ago. The most famous A. afarensis fossil is AL288-1, or "Lucy", which was found at Hadar (Ethiopia), and dates to 3.2 million years ago.

Australopithecus:

“Little Foot” Clarke. R. J. 1998. First ever discovery of a well-preserved skull and associated skeleton of Australopithecus. S. Afr. J. Sci. 94: 460-463

Ardipithecus ramidus:

1994: Tim D. White, Gen Suwa, Berhane Asfaw, Australopithecus ramidus, a new species of hominid from Aramis, Ethiopia (1994), Nature 371, 306 - 312 (22 September 1994) The type specimen for Ar. ramidus, ARV-VP 6/1, was found at Middle Awash. This specimen dates to 4.4 million years ago.

Australopithecus anamensis

1995: Meave G. Leakey, Craig S. Feibel, Ian McDougall & Alan Walker, New four- million-year-old hominid species from Kanapoi and Allia Bay, Kenya, Nature, Volume 376, Issue 6541, pp. 565-571 (1995). The type specimen for A. anamensis is KNM-KP 29281, found at Kanapoi, Kenya. This specimen dates to 4.1 million years

Homo erectus (Dmanisi): 1995: L. Gabunia & A. Vekua, A Plio-Pleistocene hominid from Dmanisi, East Georgia, Caucasus, Nature 373, 509 - 512 (09 February 1995) 2002: Gabounia, L., M-A de Lumley, V. Abesalom, D. Lordkipanidze and H. de Lumley. 2002. Decouverte d’un nouvel hominide a Dmanissi (Transcanucasie, Georgie). C. R. Palevol v. 1: 243-253 Australopithecus bahrelghazli: 1996: Brunet, M., A. Beauvilain, Y. Coppens, E. Heintz, A.H.E. Moutaye, and D. Pilbeam. 1996. "Australopithecus bahrelghazali, une nouvelle espece d'Hominide ancien de la region de Koro Toro (Tchad)." In Comptes Rendus des séances de l'Academie des Sciences, vol. 322, pp. 907-913.

Homo antecessor:

1992: Arsuaga, J.-L., I. Martinez, A. Gracia, J.-M. Carreterro, & E. Carbonnell. 1993. Three new human skulls from the Sima de Los Huesos Middle Pleistocene site in Sierra de Atapureca, Spain. Nature 362: 534-537

1997: Bermúdez de Castro JM, Arsuaga JL, Carbonell E, Rosas A, Martínez I y Mosquera M. (1997): A hominid from the lower Pleistocene of Atapuerca, Spain: possible ancestor to Neandertals and modern humans. Science, 276(5317):1392-1395 Australopithecus garhi:

1999: Asfaw, B; White, T; Lovejoy, O; Latimer, B; Simpson, S; Suwa, G (1999). "Australopithecus garhi: a new species of early hominid from Ethiopia". Science 284 (5414): 629–35.

The type specimen is BOU-VP- 12/130, found at Bouri, Ethiopia. This specimen dates to 2.5 million years.

Kenyanthropus platyops

2001: Leakey, M., Spoor, F., Brown, F.H., Gathogo, P.N., Kiarie, C., Leakey, L.N., MacDougall, I., 2001. New hominin genus from eastern Africa shows diverse middle Pliocene lineages. Nature 410, 433–440.

The type specimen is KNM-WT 40000. This specimen dates to 3.5 Million years.

Orrorin tugenensis:

2001: Senut, Brigitte; Pickford, Martin; Gommery, Dominique; Mein, Pierre; Cheboi, Kiptalam; Coppens, Yves (2001). First hominid from the Miocene (Lukeino Formation, Kenya). Comptes Rendus de l'Académie de Sciences 332 (2): 137–144.

The type specimen for O. tugenensis, BAR 1000’00, was found at Tugen Hills. This specimen dates to approximately 6 million years ago.

Sahelanthropus tchadensis:

2002: Michel Brunet, et al., 2002. A new hominid from the Upper Miocene of Chad, Central Africa, Nature, 418 (6894): 145-151.

The type specimen for S. tchadensis, TM 266-01-060-1 or the Toumai specimen. This specimen dates between 6 and 7 million years old.

Homo floresiensis:

2004: Brown P., Sutikna T., Morwood M., Soejono R.P., Jatmiko, Saptomo E.W. et al. (2004): A new small-bodied hominin from the late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia. Nature, 431:1055-61.

The type specimen is L.B. 1. This specimen dates to 18 K.

Ardipithecus kadabba 2004: Yohannes Haile-Selassie, Gen Suwa, Tim D. White, Late Miocene Teeth from Middle Awash, Ethiopia, and Early Hominid Dental Evolution, Science 2004: 303 no. 5663 pp. 1503-1505 ALA-VP 1/20 is the type specimen for Ar. kadabba, which was found at Middle Awash. This specimen dates between 5.8 and 5.5 million years ago.

Australopithecus sediba:

2010: Berger, L.R., de Ruiter, D.J., Churchill, S.E., Schmid, P., Carlson, K.J., Dirks, P.H.G.M., Kibii, J.M., 2010. Australopithecus sediba: A New Species of Homo-Like Australopith from South Africa. Science 328, 195-204.

The type specimen is LH 1. This specimen dates to 1.9 Million years ago.

Homo gautengensis:

2010: Curnoe, D. (2010). A review of early Homo in southern Africa focusing on cranial, mandibular and dental remains, with the description of a new species (Homo gautengensis sp. nov.). Journal of Comparative Human Biology 61 (3): 151–77.

Denisovians:

2010 David Reich, et al., Genetic history of an archaic hominin group from Denisova Cave in Siberia, 2010, Nature 468, 1053-1060