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Overview
Overview
According to Fran Dorey from the Austrian Museum, In the year 1959, two H. Habilis teeth were found in Tanzania by Louis and Mary Leaky. They were a married couple who established an excavation site at Olduvai Gorge to search for fossils ( Louis Leakey Biography ). They were officially announced as a new species in 1964 but their placement into the human genus Homo was controversial. Additional fossils including the discovery of a partial skeleton in 1986, have revealed that this species was more apelike than previously believed ( Dorey,2018). Classically, Homo habilis directly evolved from the Australopithecus into the Homo erectus, which in turn led to humans. This classification was contested at first, since many scientists claimed that the fossils of Homo habilis were simply Australopithecus fossils, but that counter-claim has been disbanded. This simplistic lineage has now been contested, since there are reasons to believe that there was a split(s) made off of Homo habilis. Two arguments have been proposed for these splits, one being the introduction of Homo rudolfensis and other less accepted Homo gauntensis.
Features
Features
Their brain size and features of their hands and feet and evidence was found that they have used the stone tool. Based off of fairly fragmentary skeletons, Homo habilis is thought to have body portions more similar to Australophesis than its evolutionary descendant of Homo erectus. This would mean that the Homo habilis was incapable of long distance travel, but that is something that is hotly disputed. While the current interpretation suggests that they did indeed have limited long distance travel, some scientists believe they had a partly arboreal lifestyle, mainly due to their connection to the Australophesis. Homo habilis is the least similar to the modern human of all species in the genus. Homo habilis were short and had disproportionately long arms compared with modern humans. Yet have a less protruding face than the australopithecines from which is thought to descend. The cranial capacity is known to be less than half of the size of modern humans. The fossils remain to demonstrate an australopithecine-like body with a more human-like face and smaller teeth.
The Brain
The Brain
Homo habilis is thought to be the first primate to have used a tool called an Oldowan, which is where it gets its name from; Homo habilis is Latin for ‘handy-man’. Oldowans are chunks of stone broken off at an angle, creating a cutting edge. Although they are a scavenger rather than a master hunter, it is thought to have a master the lower Paleolithic Oldowan tool set, which utilized stone flake. These stone flakes were more advanced than any tools previously used. Whether Homo habilis was the first hominid to master stone tool technology remains controversial, due to Australopith garhi, dates to 2.6 years ago and founded along with stone tool implements at least 100,000 to 200,000 years older than Homo habilis( Bradshaw Foundation). It is believed that Homo habilis ate far more meat than its ancestor Australophesis due to its new-found scavenger lifestyle. This may be the reason for the H. habilis' brain increase, since it is reported to have a brain of 500–900 cc, but the notion that meat consumption led to humans’ larger brains is somewhat disputed.
(Dorey, 2018).
References
Dorey, Fran. “Homo Habilis - The Australian Museum.” The Australian Museum,
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/homo-habilis/#:~:text=If%20so%2C%20Homo%20habilis%20may,and%203%20million%20years%20ago).&text=More%20fossil%20evidence%20is%20needed%20to%20resolve%20this%20issue. Accessed 16 Mar. 2021.
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