5. Characteristics of H.

Habilis
Homo Habilis, literally meaning 'handy man', was a species that evolved from the
Australopithecus and lived from 2.4 - 1.5 million years ago (mya). This species was physically
no taller than four feet and no heavier that 110 pounds, however contained brains of 800 cc that
were 50 percent larger than those of the australopithecines. The skulls have thin walls and are
rounded compared to the low and flattened skulls of later species. Based on their smaller though
still strong jaws, Homo Habilis had a broad diet including tougher foods such as woody plants
and animal tissues though not hard foods. They are often associated with meat and marrow
eating through evidence of large animal slaughter. The difference between males and females is
still unclear. Though steadily becoming more humnan-like, Homo Habilis still retains some ape-
like features including long arms and a slightly prognathic face. Homo Habilis were the first
species able to utilize tools for their benefit, and learned to make stone tools through chipping.
The species obtained their name through their making of stone tools. The first fossils of Homo
Habilis were discovered at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania around 1960.
Homo rudolfensis (also Australopithecus rudolfensis) is an extinct species of the Hominini
tribe, on the morphological boundary between the genera Homo and Australopithecus. Its oldest
fossil is dated to 2.4 million years ago, at the very beginning of the Pleistocene, with the possible
exception of the LD 350-1 representing the oldest fossil evidence of the emergence of archaic
humans (the genus Homo) from their australopithecine ancestors.
Characteristics of Homo Erectus
Homo erectus had a brain size approaching that of modern humans. Averaging just under 1,000
cubic centimeters, this brain actually reached the lower limit of modern human brain size.
Erectus was also the first human species to have a wide, fleshy nose
Homo heidelbergensis is an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans in the genus Homo,
which radiated in the Middle Pleistocenefrom about 700,000 to 300,000 years ago,[note 2] known
from fossils found in Southern Africa, East Africa and Europe. African H. heidelbergensis has
several subspecies. The subspecies are Homo heidelbergensis heidelbergensis, Homo
heidelbergensis daliensis, Homo rhodesiensis, and Homo heidelbergensis steinheimensi.[1] The
derivation of Homo sapiens from Homo rhodesiensis has often been proposed, but is obscured by
a fossil gap from 400–260 kya.[note 3] The species was originally named Homo
heidelbergensis due to the skeleton's first discovery near Heidelberg, Germany.[
The skeleton's unique traits such as its small body and brain size led scientists to assign the
skeleton to a new species ,Homo floresiensis, named after the island on which it was discovered