Homo habilis

***Homo habilis ***(Latin: "handy man") is an extinct species of early human. Its scientific name is abbreviated as **_H. habilis**._

Scientists estimate that _H. habilis_ lived from around 2.4 million years ago to around 1.4 million years ago. However, a _H. habilis_ jawbone discovered in 2015 may be up to 2.8 million years old.

_H. habilis_ was one of the earliest species of the genus _Homo_.__ This means it is an early ancestor of modern man. It was bipedal (it could walk on two feet), and it made and used stone tools.

Not all scientists agree about what characteristics _H. habilis_ had, and whether it is even a separate species at all.

## Discovery

The paleoanthropologists Louis and Mary Leakey were the first to find _H. habilis_ fossils. They made their discovery in 1960 at Olduvai Gorge in the Great Rift Valley of Tanzania, East Africa. Scientists think that some of the fossils from Olduvai Gorge are around 2 million years old.

Initially, scientists thought _H. habilis_ was the first human ancestor to make stone tools. This is why it was named _Homo habilis_, which means "handy man" in Latin. Later, at Lake Turkana in Kenya, archaeologists found stone tools from almost 400,000 years before _H. habilis_ existed, before the genus _Homo_ had even appeared.

## Location

Since the Leakeys' discovery, scientists have found _H. habilis_ remains in Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Tanzania. Because no remains have been found outside these areas, scientists theorize that _H. habilis_ did not migrate out of Africa like _Homo erectus_ did.

## Diet

Scientists think that _H. habilis_ got most of their meat from scavenging, not hunting. They think _H. habilis_ was a confrontational scavenger, stealing kills from smaller animals like jackals or cheetahs.

Based on analysis of fossil teeth, _H. habilis_ probably ate an omnivorous diet that included meat, fish, and fruit. Their diet probably also included some tough foods like leaves and woody plants. Hard foods (like dried meat or brittle nuts) were generally not part of their diet.

## Technology

_H. habilis_ made and used different kinds of Oldowan stone tools. Although these tools were primitive, they were a major shift in human technology.

They may have used their hand axes to butcher meat, remove skins, crush bones, cut wood, and cut plants. _H. habilis_ developed specialized tools for specific purposes, like scrapers and choppers. Still, according to a 1985 study, most Oldowan hand axes were probably discarded as soon as they were used.

### Body

_H. habilis_ had an "apelike" body structure, with long arms, a short body, and a flat face. It had a large thin skull. Compared to earlier human ancestors, it had larger front teeth and smaller back teeth. Based on _H. habilis_ fossil fingers, it could probably grip things with its fingertips (a "precision grip").

Scientists believe they were about 1.3 metres (4.3 feet) tall, and weighed about 37 kilograms (81.6 pounds).

### Brain

_H. habilis_ was the first human ancestor to have a significant increase in brain size compared to earlier hominids like _Australopithecus_. This may be why it became the first human species to make stone tools. The brain size of _H. habilis_ fossils has ranged from 500 to 800 cc (with an average of 640 cc). This was larger than _Australopithecus_, whose average brain size was around 440 cc.

### Possible speech

Some scientists believe _H. habilis_ could use basic language. Others disagree.

According to scientist Fred Spoor:> From _Homo habilis’_ behaviour of making relatively complex stone tools and knowing what we know about communication in great apes, I’m sure they had a complex way of communicating with each other. This likely included a form of language - probably to say very basic things like, “What’s a good place to get raw material for stone tools?” or “I saw a hippo carcass over there”.

## Related pages

- Human evolution
- Oldowan