10.1: Early Members of the Genus Homo

Bonnie Yoshida-Levine Ph.D., Grossmont College

Learning Objectives

• Describe how early Pleistocene climate change influenced the evolution of the genus Homo.
• Identify the characteristics that define the genus Homo.
• Describe the skeletal anatomy of Homo habilis and Homo erectus based on the fossil evidence.
• Assess opposing points of view about how early Homo should be classified.
• Describe what is known about the adaptive strategies of early members of the Homo genus, including tool technologies, diet, migration patterns, and other behavioral trends.

The boy was no older than 9 when he perished by the swampy shores of the lake. After death, his slender, long-limbed body sank into the mud of the lake shallows. His bones fossilized and lay undisturbed for 1.5 million years. In the 1980s, fossil hunter Kimoya Kimeu, working on the western shore of Lake Turkana, Kenya, glimpsed a dark colored piece of bone eroding in a hillside. This small skull fragment led to the discovery of what is arguably the world’s most complete early hominin fossil—a youth identified as a member of the species Homo erectus. Now known as Nariokotome Boy, after the nearby lake village, the skeleton has provided a wealth of information about the early evolution of our own genus, Homo (see Figure 10.1). Today, a stone monument with an inscription in three languages—English, Swahili, and the local Turkana language—marks the site of this momentous fossil discovery.

Figure 10.1 Skeleton of a young male Homo erectus known as “Nariokotome Boy,” along with an artist’s depiction of how he may have looked during his life. This is the most complete hominin fossil from this time period ever found.

The previous chapter described our oldest human ancestors, primarily members of the genus Australopithecus who lived between 2 million and 4 million years ago. This chapter introduces the earliest members of the genus Homo, focusing on the species Homo habilis and Homo erectus.

About the Author

Bonnie Yoshida-Levine, Ph.D.

Grossmont College, [e-mail]

Bonnie Yoshida-Levine

Bonnie Yoshida-Levine is an instructor of anthropology at Grossmont College, where she teaches biological anthropology and archaeology. She received her bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her dissertation research focused on the bioarchaeology of early civilizations in north coastal Peru. Bonnie has also collaborated on archaeological field projects in Bolivia and coastal California.

For Further Exploration

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Lewin, Roger, and Robert A. Foley. 2004. Principles of Human Evolution. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing.

Stoneking, Mark. 2015. “Of Lice and Men: The Molecular Evolution of Human Lice.” Lecture, Center for Academic Research & Training in Anthropogeny, San Diego, California, October 16, 2015. https://carta.anthropogeny.org/events/unique-features-human-skin

Tarlach, Gemma. 2015. “The First Humans to Know Winter.” Discover, February 26.

Ungar, Peter S. 2017. Evolution’s Bite : A Story of Teeth, Diet, and Human Origins. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Wrangham, Richard. 2009. Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human. New York: Basic Books.

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Acknowledgments

The author gratefully acknowledges funding from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office Zero Textbook Cost Degree Grant Program—Implementation Phase 2.

Figure Attributions

Figure 10.1a KNM-WT 15000 Turkana Boy Skeleton by Smithsonian [exhibit: Human Evolution Evidence, Human Fossils, Fossils, KNM-WT 15000] is copyrighted and used for educational and non-commercial purposes as outlined by the Smithsonian.

Figure 10.1b MNP – Turkanajunge 2 by Wolfgang Sauber (photograph) and E. Daynes (sculpture) is used under a CC BY-SA 4.0 License.

Figure 10.2 Five Myr Climate Change by Dragons flight (Robert A. Rohde), based on data from Lisiechi and Raymo (2005), is used under a CC BY-SA 3.0 License.

Figure 10.3 Savanna grasslands of East Africa by International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)/Elsworth is used under a CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 License.

Figure 10.4 Homo habilis site map original to Explorations: An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology by Chelsea Barron at GeoPlace, California State University, Chico is under a CC BY-NC 4.0 License.

Figure 10.5a Homo habilis: OH 24 lateral right view by eFossils is copyrighted and used for non-commercial purposes as outlined by eFossils.

Figure 10.5b Homo habilis: KNM-ER 1813 lateral right view by eFossils is copyrighted and used for non-commercial purposes as outlined by eFossils.

Figure 10.5c Homo habilis OH 7 Jaw by ©BoneClones is used by permission and available here under a CC BY-NC 4.0 License.

Figure 10.6 Homo habilis table original to Explorations: An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology is under a CC BY-NC 4.0 License.

Figure 10.7 Homo rudolfensis Cranium KNM-ER 1470 by ©BoneClones is used by permission and available here under a CC BY-NC 4.0 License.

Figure 10.8 Summary features of Homo habilis original to Explorations: An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology is under a CC BY-NC 4.0 License.

Figure 10.9 Chopping tool by José-Manuel Benito Álvarez is used under a CC BY-SA 2.5 License.

Figure 10.10 Homo erectus: Sangiran 17 lateral left view by eFossils is copyrighted and used for non-commercial purposes as outlined by eFossils.

Figure 10.11 Homo erectus site map original to Explorations: An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology by Chelsea Barron at GeoPlace, California State University, Chico is under a CC BY-NC 4.0 License.

Figure 10.12 Regional comparisons of Homo erectus fossils original to Explorations: An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology is under a CC BY-NC 4.0 License.

Figure 10.13 Hand axe spanish by Locutus Borg has been designated to the public domain (CC0).

Figure 10.14 Elephant Butchery Site Olorgesailie, Kenya by Smithsonian [exhibit: Human Evolution Research, East African Research Projects, Olorgesailie, Kenya] is copyrighted and used for educational and non-commercial purposes as outlined by the Smithsonian.

Figure 10.15 Hadzabe1 by Idobi is used under a CC BY-SA 3.0 License.

Figure 10.16 Summary features of Homo erectus original to Explorations: An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology is under a CC BY-NC 4.0 License.