HOMO HABILIS

AND
AUSTRALOPITHECUS

GROUP 1
Homo Habilis

– Homo – latin word meaning “human” or “man”

“HANDY MAN”
– Habilis - latin word meaning “handy” or “skillful”
– AGE: lived between about 2.3 and 1.5 million years ago during the Gelasian
Pleistocene period
– It was believed to be the earliest known species of the genus Homo
– Discovery of Homo Habilis began in 1959 when two teeth were unearthed at
Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania by a team led by Louis and Mary Leakey
– Slightly larger brain case and smaller face
– Homo habilis being the first to make stone tools—represented a significant
change in mental capabilities and a shift toward new survival strategies.
– The first crude stone tools were made as early as 2.6 million years ago are
classified as Mode 1 technology.
– They are often called Oldowan stone tools as the first discoveries of these tools
occurred at Oldoway (now Olduvai) Gorge, Tanzania in East Africa.
– They lived in a predominantly grassland environment.
– The climate was becoming cooler and drier and this may have been the impetus
for new feeding strategies that included scavenging and tool use.
Australopithecus

– From the Latin Word “australis” – southern and Greek word “pithekos” – ape
– A group of extinct primates closely related to modern human beings and known
from a series of fossils found at numerous sites in eastern, north-central, and
Southern Africa.
– Lived 4.4 to 1.4 million years ago, during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs
(which lasted from 5.3 million to 11,700 years ago.
– Lucy – famous specimen from Ethiopia.
– Australopithecus Anamensis – has a combination of traits found in both apes
and humans; bipedal; “anam” – lake
– Australopithecus Africanus – lived in Southern Africa; Lived about 3.3 to 2.1
million years ago; automatically similar to Mu. afarensis; year of discovery 1924
– Australopithecus Afarensis – Lucy (species); lived about 3.85 and 2.95 million
years ago; one of the best-known early species