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The Earliest Putative Homo Fossils

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Handbook of Paleoanthropology

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Abstract

The earliest fossil remains of the genus Homo have been discovered in eastern, southeastern, and southern Africa. The sample comprises about 200 skeletal fragments attributable to about 40 individuals and assigned to two species: Homo rudolfensis (2.5–1.8 Ma) showing a combination of primitive dentition with Homo-like locomotion and Homo habilis (2.1–1.5 Ma) exhibiting a progressive reduction of tooth roots but resembling great apes rather than humans in the postcranial skeleton. Another significant difference between early Homo and the australopithecines is brain size, which was larger in early Homo than in Australopithecus but smaller than in Homo erectus. Endocasts of H. habilis from Olduvai Gorge and Koobi Fora reveal a number of distinctive features, some of which are recognized as Homo autapomorphies. Differences in tooth wear between H. rudolfensis, with megadont teeth and more horizontal tooth abrasion, and H. habilis, with more gracile molars and higher relief in worn teeth, indicate significant differences in diet and ecology of early Homo species. The origin of the genus Homo coincided with the onset of material culture. Between ca. 2.8 and 2.5 Ma, extensive open habitats comprising more arid-tolerant vegetation developed in Africa. The selective pressures of this habitat change resulted in the increased survival of more megadont species varieties. Megadonty allowed these species to feed on harder open woodland-open savannah food items (Dental Adaptations of African Apes) resulting in the phyletic splitting of Australopithecus afarensis into Paranthropus and Homo lineages by ca. 2.5 Ma. An evolutionary scenario that complies with both the Habitat Theory and early hominid biogeography is provided. It delineates the association between faunal turnover and climate change and suggests a single origin for the Paranthropus lineage but separate origins for H. rudolfensis and H. habilis from A. afarensis, A. africanus, or A. sediba ancestors, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Paleoanthropology and Messel Research, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, Frankfurt, Germany

    Prof. Friedemann Schrenk & Priv. -Doz. Dr. Ottmar Kullmer

  2. Department of Biomaterials and Biomimetics, New York University, College of Dentistry, 345 East 24th Street, Rm 804-S, New York, NY, 10010, USA

    Prof. Timothy Bromage

Authors
  1. Prof. Friedemann Schrenk
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  2. Priv. -Doz. Dr. Ottmar Kullmer
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  3. Prof. Timothy Bromage
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Correspondence to Friedemann Schrenk .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst. Anthropologie, Universität Mainz FB 10 (1050), Mainz, Germany

    Winfried Henke

  2. American Museum of Natural History Division of Anthropology, New York, New York, USA

    Ian Tattersall

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Schrenk, F., Kullmer, O., Bromage, T. (2013). The Earliest Putative Homo Fossils. In: Henke, W., Tattersall, I. (eds) Handbook of Paleoanthropology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27800-6_52-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27800-6_52-4

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