Hominin Paper

About 1.8 years ago, many early transitional humans had evolved into fully human species. Many paleoanthropologists refer to these new human species as Homo erectus common known as the “upright human.” However, some researchers went ahead to split the species into two: Homo ergaster, which literary means “working human” and Homo erectus. Seemingly, the ergaster were thought to be somewhat earlier and much of the fossils have been found in Africa. Furthermore, the erectus fossils have been found across Asia, Europe and Africa ( Bodmer, 1976).

The Ancestors of Homo erectus

In order to find the “missing link,” a Dutch anatomist known as Eugene Dubois discovered the first remains of Homo erectus in Indonesia along the Trinil River on Java Island (Dubois, 1894). Previously known as Pithecanthropus erectus, its skullcap looked somehow primitive and small because australopiths had not been discovered yet to compare it with. The immediate ancestor of Homo erectus is believed to be the early Homo habilis. The Homo habilis was discovered in the early 1960’s by the Leakeys in Tanzania (Leakey et al 1964). However, the species of Homo habilis were found in fragments. To begin with, was OH 7 that was found by Jonathan Leakey. The OH 7 consisted of two cranial fragments, few hand bones and a lower jaw. Second, was OH 8 that also found in 1960, which comprised of a complete set of foot bones except for the back heel and the toes. The OH 8 is estimated to be 1.8 Million years. These bones are characterized of both the human and ape traits, though they are consistent with bipedal locomotion.( Bodmer, 1976).

The third fragment is OH 13, which is sometimes referred to as “Cindy.” Estimated to be 1.6 million years, the fragment consisted of a cranial fragment, a lower jaw and teeth, and some bits of the upper jaw. “Cindy” had a brain size of about 650 cc. Fourthly, is OH 16 which was found by George Leaky. The OH 16 consisted of teeth and very bitty parts of the skull. Moreover,...