Homo erectus | The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program Your browser does not support the audio element. Homo erectus Where Lived: Northern, Eastern, and Southern Africa; Western Asia (Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia); East Asia (China and Indonesia) When Lived: Between about 1.89 million and 143,000 years ago Early African Homo erectus fossils (sometimes called Homo ergaster) are the oldest known early humans to have possessed modern human-like body proportions with relatively elongated legs and shorter arms compared to the size of the torso. These features are considered adaptations to a life lived on the ground, indicating the loss of earlier tree-climbing adaptations, with the ability to walk and possibly run long distances. Compared with earlier fossil humans, note the expanded braincase relative to the size of the face. The most complete fossil individual of this species is known as the ‘Turkana Boy’ – a well-preserved skeleton (though minus almost all the hand and foot bones), dated around 1.6 million years old. Microscopic study of the teeth indicates that he grew up at a growth rate similar to that of a great ape.

There is fossil evidence that this species cared for old and weak individuals. The appearance of Homo erectus in the fossil record is often associated with the earliest handaxes, the first major innovation in stone tool technology. Early fossil discoveries from Java (beginning in the 1890s) and China (‘Peking Man’, beginning in the 1920s) comprise the classic examples of this species. Generally considered to have been the first species to have expanded beyond Africa, Homo erectus is considered a highly variable species, spread over two continents (it's not certain whether it reached Europe), and possibly the longest lived early human species - about nine times as long as our own species, Homo sapiens, has been around! Year of Discovery: 1891 History of Discovery: Eugène Dubois, a Dutch surgeon, found the first Homo erectus individual (Trinil 2) in Indonesia in 1891.

In 1894, Dubois named the species Pithecanthropus erectus, or ‘erect ape-man.’ At that time, Pithecanthropus (later changed to Homo) erectus was the most primitive and smallest-brained of all known early human species; no early human fossils had even been discovered in Africa yet. Height: Ranges from 4 ft 9 in - 6 ft 1 in (145 - 185 cm) Weight: Ranges from 88 - 150 lbs (40 - 68 kg) We don’t know everything about our early ancestors—but we keep learning more! Paleoanthropologists are constantly in the field, excavating new areas, using groundbreaking technology, and continually filling in some of the gaps about our understanding of human evolution. Below are some of the still unanswered questions about Homo erectus that may be answered with future discoveries: Was Homo erectus the direct ancestor of Homo sapiens, our own species? Data suggest that increasing body size, greater reliance on animal food resources, and increased range size were part of a web of factors that facilitated the initial early dispersal of H. erectus from Africa.

Was one of these factors more important than the others? Are the fossils from earlier time periods in East Africa, and from Georgia, all part of a single species (Homo erectus), regionally variable in size and shape? Or are there actually several species of early human represented by what we are now calling Homo erectus? How well did Homo erectus master the control of fire and how widespread was fire used? What does this say about possible dietary shifts in this species? Did Homo erectus grow up in a more human-like pattern and rate, or a more ape-like one? Was Homo erectus the first early human species to experience an adolescent growth spurt? First paper: Other recommended readings: Antón, S.C., 2003. Natural history of Homo erectus. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 46, 126–170. Le Gros Clark W.E., 1964. The fossil evidence for human evolution, 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Leonard, W.R., Robertson, M.L., 1997. Comparative primate energetics and hominid evolution.

American Journal of Physical Anthropology 102, 265–281. Mayr, E., 1950. Taxonomic categories of fossil hominids. Cold Spring Harbor Symp Quant Biol 25, 109–118. How They Survived: The tall bodies and large brains of Homo erectus individuals required a lot of energy on a regular basis to function. Eating meat and other types of protein that could be quickly digested made it possible to absorb nutrients with a shorter digestive tract, making more energy available faster. There is also speculation that honey and underground tubers may have been significant food sources for Homo erectus. Soon after we see evidence in the fossil record of the earliest Homo erectus fossils (by about 1.9 million years ago), we see evidence in the archeological record for the first major innovation in stone tool technology (by about 1.76 million years ago). Known as the Acheulean stone tool industry, it consisted of the creation of large cutting tools like handaxes and cleavers. Increased reliance on a broader set of tools may have helped Homo erectus survive during changing climates.

The earliest evidence of hearths (campfires) occur during the time range of Homo erectus. While we have evidence that hearths were used for cooking (and probably sharing) food, they are likely to have been places for social interaction, and also used for warmth and to keep away large predators. Evolutionary Tree Information: Some scientists distinguish between the African (Homo ergaster) and Asian (Homo erectus sensu stricto) fossils of this taxon, while others lump them together as Homo erectus sensu lato. In either case, there is general agreement that it descended from an earlier species of Homo (e.g., Homo habilis) and represents one of the widest dispersals of early humans in our evolutionary history. It is likely that distinct populations of Homo erectus sensu lato led to the emergence of later hominin species, such as Homo heidelbergensis, and ultimately to our own species, Homo sapiens. At the beginning of its time range, around 1.9 Mya, H. erectus coexisted in East Africa with several other early human species including Homo rudolfensis, Homo habilis, and Paranthropus boisei.

Sometimes they were even found at the same fossil sites. At the end of its time range, around 143,000 years ago, it coexisted with Homo sapiens and possibly Homo floresiensis in Indonesia. Homo Erectus: Facts About the 'Upright Man' Homo Erectus: Facts About the 'Upright Man' By Joseph Castro, Live Science Contributor | June 22, 2015 09:55pm ET MORE Homo erectus, an ancestor to modern humans, arose at least 1.8 million years ago. Around that time in the fossil record, archaeologists see big shifts in brain size and body size in ancient hominins. Credit: Thomas Roche | Wikimedia Commons Compared with modern Homo sapiens, which have only been around for the last 200,000 years, Homo erectus, or "upright man," had a long reign. The ancient ancestor of modern humans lived from 2 million years ago till about 100,000 years ago, possibly even 50,000 years ago. Fossils of H.

erectus also show that the species lived in numerous locales across the globe, including South Africa, Kenya, Spain, China, and Java (Indonesia). "Homo erectus spanned a large [temporal] and geographic range," said Adam Van Arsdale, an anthropologist at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, explaining the significance of H. erectus. "It is also important because it's the first fossil ancestral to modern humans that, in many ways, shares a lot of its ecology." In particular, H. erectus had a similar range of body sizes to modern humans, and it is the first human ancestor to have similar limb and torso proportions to those seen in modern humans. This suggests it had adapted to walking on two feet in a more open, grassland environment, rather than swinging from tree branch to branch. "Unlike Australopithecus fossils, Homo erectus fossils don't preserve features related to climbing," Van Arsdale told Live Science. And similar to modern humans, H. erectus used tools, technology and culture to hunt for and gather food, he said. Anatomy and behavior Homo erectus was taller than earlier human ancestors.

For instance, one of the most complete fossil skeletons ever found, a 1.5-million-year-old specimen of an adolescent male known as Turkana Boy (now known as Nariokotome Boy), may have grown up to 6 feet 1 inches (1.85 meters) tall as an adult, though other estimates put his maximum height at the more modest 5 feet 4 inches (1.63 m), according to a 2010 study in the Journal of Human Evolution . By comparison, the iconic 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus skeleton dubbed Lucy was just 3 feet 7 inches (1.1 meters) tall at death, according to a 1988 reconstruction published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology . Homo erectus also had more variation in height — with more tall and short individuals — than more primitive humans. Notably, some H. erectus individuals also had much larger brains than older hominins, according to a 2013 overview of H. erectus that Van Arsdale published in the Nature Education Knowledge Project . Specifically, small-bodied, early H.

erectus fossils have brain sizes not much bigger than Australopithecus (an ancestor of the Homo genus), but the Nariokotome Boy and other early large-bodied specimens have a brain volume more than 50 percent larger than Australopithecus and about 60 percent the volume of people living today. Those bigger brains and bodies required more food and energy to survive. Analyses on the dental micro-wear and stable isotope chemistry of H. erectus fossils (molecules from foodstuff naturally become incorporated into growing teeth and bones) suggest the ancient man ate a fairly flexible and diverse diet, which likely included a lot of animal protein, according to a 2011 review of hominin diets published in the journal Science . Homo erectus' larger brain may explain why its apparent intelligence and why it displays so many distinctly human behaviors. In terms of intelligence, "I don’t think [H. erectus] would be great elementary school students if we try to put them through our education system," Van Arsdale said.

"But they were very successful in a lot of different environments." Early Human Evolution: Homo ergaster and erectus Homo erectus from Southeast Asia Homo ergaster from East Africa Homo erectus were very successful in creating cultural technologies that allowed them to adapt to new environmental opportunities. They were true pioneers in developing human culture and in expanding their geographic range beyond Africa to populate tropical and subtropical zones elsewhere in the Old World. This territorial expansion most likely began around 1.8-1.7 million years ago, coinciding with progressively cooler global temperatures. Surprisingly, however, Homo erectus remained little changed anatomically until about 800,000 years ago. After that time, there apparently were evolutionary developments in features of the head that would become characteristic of modern humans. By half a million years ago, some Homo erectus were able to move into the seasonally cold temperate zones of Asia and Europe. This migration was made possible by greater intelligence and new cultural technologies, probably including better hunting skills and the ability to create fire. Evolutionary Relationships The earliest Homo erectus were contemporaries of the late Homo habilis in East Africa for several hundred thousand years.

This suggests that the immediate ancestor of Homo erectus was an early Homo habilis or possibly another yet to be discovered species of early humans. Homo erectus was a very successful human species, lasting at least 1.5 million years, though their numbers apparently remained relatively low. Some of them eventually evolved into our species, Homo sapiens . That evolutionary transition was well under way by 400,000 years ago but was not complete until 200,000-100,000 years ago and possibly even later in some regions. History of Discovery Eugene Dubois (1858-1940) In the late 19th century, our knowledge of human fossil ancestors did not go back beyond that of the Neandertals in Europe, less than 100,000 years ago, and little was known about them. There was no inkling of our much earlier ancestors in Africa. A few scientists speculated that the most ancient humans would be found somewhere in tropical regions of East Asia. One of the people who held this view was a Dutch anatomist and medical doctor named Eugene Dubois .

Late in 1887, he went to the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) as a military doctor. This job allowed him enough spare time to pursue his passion, the search for early human fossils. He first explored the big island of Sumatra. Excavating in several caves, he found a hominid jaw fragment in 1890. However, this was not convincing evidence of early human ancestry. He then moved on to Java. During excavations in the eastern part of that island in 1891-1892, he recovered a Homo erectus brain case and femur (upper leg bone). Since he had discovered an unknown species, he took the liberty of naming it in an 1894 publication. He called it Pithecanthropus erectus (literally "ape man who stands erect"). He returned to the Netherlands with his fossils in 1895 and proclaimed them to be from our earliest ancestor. Unfortunately for Dubois, most of the leading paleontologists of his day were not convinced.

Dubois' claims for his Java Homo erectus finds were not widely accepted until the 1930's, when the German/Dutch paleontologist Gustav von Koenigswald made similar discoveries in the Dutch East Indies. By that time, there had also been even more convincing discoveries of Homo erectus in China. Dubois, now in his 70's, stubbornly refused to accept any of these fossils as being from the same species as his "Java Man" specimens. He died at the outset of World War II, apparently as a rather lonely maverick scientist frustrated by the inability to convince many people that his conclusions had been correct. Dating the Java Homo erectus fossils has been difficult. In the past, it was generally accepted that most of these bones are 700,000-200,000 years old, based roughly on what was the presumed date for the geological strata in which they were found. In 1994, however, radiometric dating of sand particles attached to two of the fossils indicated that they were actually 1.8 and 1.6 million years old.

These dates indicate that some Homo erectus left Africa soon after they evolved from early transitional humans. In 1911, a revolution in China overthrew the last emperor of the Manchu Dynasty and set up a Western-style republic under the leadership of the American-educated Dr. Sun Yat-Sen. In imitation of western nations, the Geological Survey of China was established in 1917 with a Swedish geologist named J. Gunnar Anderson as its advisor. Among the many tasks of the Survey was the search for the source of "dragon bones." This is a Chinese generic term for the fossil bones that end up in apothecary shops as medicines. They are still popularly used in a ground up form for healing wounds and fractures and treating cramps and dizziness. Some older men in China use them as sexual stimulants, though they are being replaced by modern drugs such as Cialis, Viagra, and Levitra. Davidson Black (1884-1934) In 1921, Gunnar Anderson discovered that one of the important sources of "dragon bones" in North China was an abandoned limestone quarry near the village of Zhoukoudian .

This was only a day's drive over rough dirt roads from Beijing. In 1927, a fossil was found in an ancient cave at the base of the quarry that turned out to be a Homo erectus molar tooth. It was examined by Davidson Black, a Canadian anatomy professor at Peking Union Medical College. He identified the tooth as being from an earlier species of human which he named Sinanthropus pekinensis (literally "Chinese man from Peking", or Beijing as it is now called). This discovery sparked 10 years of intense excavations at Zhoukoudian by Anderson, Black, and others (especially Pei Wenshong after 1929 and Franz Weidenreich in the mid-1930's). The bones of 50 individual Homo erectus were eventually found there. "Peking Man" skull The Homo erectus skeletal evidence at the "Peking Man" site of Zhoukoudian is especially important because it is from a population of men, women, and children rather than just a single individual. There was considerable sexual dimorphism and individual variability.

The human remains were associated with large quantities of animal bones that apparently were mostly food refuse, though many of them had been chewed by large carnivores and may have ended up in the cave complex as a result of their activities. A few of the bones had been burned in a way that suggests cooking. In addition, more than 100,000 stone, bone, antler, and horn tools were excavated. The cave was intermittently occupied by late Homo erectus for around 300,000 years, beginning around 780,000 years ago. With the exception of two teeth, all of the Homo erectus bones from Zhoukoudian were lost in the chaos of late 1941 when the Japanese Army invaded Beijing and other urban centers in eastern China. There have been a number of intriguing guesses about what happened to the bones. The last time they were accounted for was when they were turned over to a U.S. Marine detachment, placed in wooden foot-lockers, and possibly taken 140 miles from Beijing to the American Camp Holcomb. They were to be transported by ship to the U.S. for safety on an American freighter named the President Harrison.

However, after the U.S. entered the war on December 7, 1941, Japanese forces quickly seized Camp Holcomb. At that point in time, the Zhoukoudian fossils disappeared and have never reappeared. In 1949, the Peoples Republic of China established a $100,000 reward for their return. Unfortunately, it has not been claimed. The only surviving bones were the two teeth that had not been turned over to the Marines in 1941. The loss to science of the Zhoukoudian bones was not as great as it may initially seem. Earlier, they had been measured, photographed, and excellent casts of them had been successfully sent to the U.S. by Franz Weidenreich where they were kept safe during World War II. In addition, other Homo erectus skeletal material has been excavated in China since the mid 1960's. Most notably are the finds that were recovered from Lantian County, Shensi Province. These fossils from several Chinese sites date to at least 800,000 years ago.

"Turkana Boy" In 1960, Louis and Mary Leakey found a 1.25 million year old Homo erectus partial cranium at Olduvai Gorge. Subsequently, more Homo erectus fossils were discovered there and at other sites in East, South, and Northwest Africa. The oldest known Homo erectus date to nearly 2 million years ago in East Africa. This strongly suggests that Homo erectus originated there. In 1984, Richard Leakey's team working at Nariokotome on the western side of Lake Turkana found a nearly complete Homo erectus skeleton of an 8-12 year old boy dating to 1.6 million years ago. It is usually referred to as the "Turkana Boy." The significance of this discovery will be discussed below. Three surprisingly early Homo erectus skulls were found during the 1990's on the fringes of Eastern Europe at Dmanisi in the Republic of Georgia. They date to 1.75 million years ago and look very much like the earliest Homo erectus from Africa--i.e., those that have been classified by some researchers as Homo ergaster.

This discovery lends credence to the 1.8 and 1.6 million year old dates for Homo erectus from Java and to an early rather than late Homo erectus expansion out of Africa. Homo erectus-like bones were also discovered during the 1990's from several other sites in Western Europe and Africa that date 800,000-400,000 years ago. It has been difficult to assign these fossils to specific species due to the fact that they have characteristics of both Homo erectus and more recent human species. Some paleoanthropologists consider them to be late transitional Homo erectus. Others now suggest that they are Homo heidelbergensis, a subsequent species that descended from Homo erectus and preceded Neandertals and other archaic humans. That is the approach taken in this tutorial series. This particular difference of species assignment is not particularly important and it does not detract from our growing understanding of the broad evolutionary trends. It is a result of our evolving conceptualization of the past as more data become available. It also partly reflects the fact that the picture of human evolution looks somewhat dissimilar in different regions of the World.

It is now becoming clear that our evolution was not as straight forward as it once was commonly thought. Humans in some areas lagged behind. This was particularly true on some islands of Indonesia. At Ngandong on Java, for instance, Homo erectus may have survived to 53,000 years ago or even somewhat later. Important Homo erectus Sites 400,000 1025 Note: Several human fossils dating 800,000-400,000 years ago are controversial. They are classified as Homo erectus by some researchers and Homo heidelbergensis (a later human species) by others. They will be presented in the next tutorial of this series. Note: It is likely that Homo erectus reached Java and other Indonesian islands during glacial periods when sea levels were low enough to create a land connection with the Southeast Asian mainland. Homo erectus Anatomy Homo erectus Below the neck, Homo erectus were anatomically much like modern humans. Their arm and leg bones were essentially the same as modern people in shape and relative proportions. This strongly supports the view that they were equal to us in their ability to walk and run bipedally.

However, their leg bones were apparently denser than ours. This may be partly a result of developmental adjustment differences. Unlike us, these early humans did not spend much of their lives sitting behind desks or on a sofa watching TV. They were probably much more active throughout the day seeking food. Their legs would have made Homo erectus efficient long distance runners like modern humans. It has been suggested that this capability would have allowed them to run down small and even medium size game animals on the tropical savannas of East Africa. If this was the case, it is also likely that they were largely hairless by this time. Bodies with little hair are more efficient at remaining cool via the evaporation of sweat during times of heavy exertion. Four legged mammals primarily cool their bodies by panting. Because they are unable to pant while galloping, they readily overheat in hot weather. As a consequence, they cannot run long distances without collapsing from heat exhaustion. This gives human hunters a decisive advantage when chasing them. It also has been suggested that the pelvis in early Homo erectus may have been a bit narrower than in modern humans, which would require the infant brain to be smaller at birth and to then undergo considerable growth in childhood.

However, we must be careful to not make too much of these differences because the number of existing specimens is low and there were minor regional variations as well. This becomes apparent especially when comparing Homo erectus from East Asia and Africa. With the evolution of Homo erectus, there was a significant increase in body size compared to earlier hominids. Past estimates of Homo erectus stature frequently were in the 5-5� feet (152-168 cm) range for adult males and around 88-150 pounds (40-68 kg). The discovery of the "Turkana Boy" in 1984 brought this into question. This is not only the most complete specimen of this species so far discovered, but it is one of the earliest. The boy was only 8-12 years old when he died but already 5 feet 3 inches (160 cm) tall. If he had lived to adulthood, he very likely would have grown to 6 feet (180 cm), assuming that Homo erectus growth patterns were similar to ours.

As the number of nearly complete Homo erectus skeletons increases in the future, a clearer understanding of the range of their stature and body shape will likely emerge. Homo erectus heads were strikingly different from ours in shape. They had relatively strong muscles on the back of their necks. Their foreheads were shallow, sloping back from very prominent bony brow ridges (i.e., supraorbital tori ). Compared to modern humans, the Homo erectus brain case was more elongated from front to back and less spherical. As a consequence, the frontal and temporal lobes of their brains were narrower, suggesting that they would have had somewhat lower mental ability. Homo erectus incisors The adult Homo erectus brain size ranged from around 750 to 1250 cm3, averaging about 930 cm3. This was only around 69% the size of modern human brains on average but 50% larger than Homo habilis. The upper end of the Homo erectus brain size range overlapped that of modern people.

However, the larger brained Homo erectus mostly were relatively late in time and are considered by some paleoanthropologists to be a more recent human species (Homo heidelbergensis or early archaic humans). Homo erectus teeth were generally intermediate between modern humans and the australopithecines in shape and size. The teeth of later Homo erectus were generally smaller than the earlier members of this species. This was particularly true of molars. This evolutionary trend probably reflects a progressive change in diet to softer foods, including more meat and eventually cooked food. The incisor teeth of Homo erectus generally have a "scooped out" appearance on the tongue side. These "shovel-shaped" incisors are also found among many Asians and Native Americans today. It is likely that increased meat consumption had a significant impact on the biological success of early humans. It provided the calories in a more easily digestible, concentrated form needed to maintain larger brains. The additional useable calories also made it possible for women to have shorter time periods between pregnancies and to subsequently give birth to more children during their reproductive years.

As a result, there was an acceleration of human population growth which was very likely an important contributing factor in the spread of people out of Africa and into Asia and Europe for the first time. Food For Thought: Meat-Based Diet Made Us Smarter --audio recording of an NPR interview with anthropologists Leslie Aiello and Richard Wrangham concerning the relationship between switching from a predominantly vegetable diet to one that contains large amounts of meat and the evolution of large human brains. This link takes you to an external website. To return here, you must click the "back" button on your browser program. (length = 7 mins, 46 secs) Homo floresiensis In 2003, a team of Australian paleoanthropologists led by Peter Brown discovered a skeleton from what may be a dwarf Homo erectus or related species that lived until 18,000 years ago on Flores Island, Indonesia. This 30 year old adult female was only about 3 feet 6 inches tall (106 cm), 66 pounds (30 kg), and had a brain size of 380 cm3 (like those of australopithecines, barely 1/3 as big as modern human brains).

This find implies that a population of exceptionally small Homo erectus or Homo erectus-derived humans survived on this relatively isolated island east of Java until far later than previously believed. Brown refers to this new discovery as Homo floresiensis . The bones of 8 additional individuals of this cave dwelling population were subsequently found on Flores Island. At present, there is no clear consensus among paleoanthropologists as to the place of floresiensis in human evolution. Peter Brown and his colleague, Michael Norwood, suggest that floresiensis may have been a descendent of normal size Homo erectus who arrived in this area of Indonesia about 800,000 years ago or even earlier and that they became small as a result of a well known biological phenomenon referred to as "island dwarfing". They also believe that floresiensis may have survived on the island until a devastating volcano wiped them out, along with dwarf elephants, around 12,000 years ago. Critics suggest that the Flores Island dwarfs were, in fact, modern people who suffered from microcephaly, a pituitary gland disorder known as Laron syndrome, or hypothyroidism due to a lack of iodine in their diet.

The short video clip and the narrated slide show linked below will help you get a better understanding of this intriguing discovery. Hobbits on Flores, Indonesia --A tiny hominin found on the island of Flores, Indonesia has shaken up the world of paleoanthropology. Human Origins scientist Matt Tocheri explains why. This link takes you to an external website. To return here, you must click the "back" button on your browser program. (length = 4 mins 19 secs) The Fellowship of the Hobbit: Elizabeth Culotta Interviews "Hobbit" Scientists -- audio recording and slide show of the 2007 field season, excerpt from the Science Multimedia Center, AAAS This link takes you to an external website. To return here, you must click the "back" button on your browser program. (length = 7 mins 19 secs) Just how long humans have been on Flores Island is not clear. The volcanic ash layer above several simple flake artifacts found there has been dated with the argon/argon radiometric method to 1.08-1.02 million years ago. Presumably, this sets a minimum age for Homo floresiensis or their predecessors on the island.

NEWS: In the August 9, 2007 issue of Nature, Fred Spoor et.al., reported that a 1.44 million year old Homo habilis fossil was found at the Koobi Fora Formation east of Lake Turkana in Kenya. If this date proves to be reliable, it will confirm that Homo habilis lived until several hundred thousand years later than previously assumed. It also provides additional support for the assumption that Homo habilis was a contemporary of early Homo erectus rather than only a predecessor. NEWS: In the February 27, 2009 issue of Science, Matthew Bennett et.al., reported the discovery of 2 sets of 1.51-1.53 million year old Homo erectus footprints near Lleret, Kenya. These prints are said to be essentially like those of modern humans.

NEWS: In the March 11, 2009 issue of Nature, Guanjun Shen et.al., reported that a joint Chinese and American research team was able to date the lower occupation levels at Zhoukoudian to 680,000-780,000 years ago using a new radiometric method based on the decay of aluminum and beryllium isotopes (26Al and 10Be) found in quartz grains. These dates place Homo erectus at Zhoukoudian around 200,000 years earlier than previously thought. It also establishes that they were present at the time of a mild glacial period. NEWS: In the May 7, 2009 issue of Nature, W. L. Jungers et.al., reported that the feet of Homo floresiensis were relatively long with stubby big toes and no arches. This means that their feet had a combination of human and early hominin traits and implies that their gait was not as efficient as that of modern humans for long distance walking.

Fossil Hominids, Human Evolution: Thomas Huxley & Eugene Dubois Fossil Hominids, Human Evolution: Thomas Huxley & Eugene Dubois When Charles Darwin wrote the Origin of Species, he had to wonder about how humans came to be. Humans had hereditary variation in every generation, and some individuals had more children than others  the key ingredients for natural selection . But he chose not to write about humans in his first book about evolution, in large part out of strategy. In 1857, two years before Darwin published the Origin of Species, Wallace asked him in a letter if he would discuss the origin of mankind in the book. Darwin replied, "I think I shall avoid the whole subject, as so surrounded with prejudices, though I fully admit that it is the highest and most interesting problem for the naturalist." But Darwin also knew that he had no fossil record to use to develop a hypothesis about human evolution. Over the years, naturalists had uncovered a few stone tools lying alongside the fossils of extinct mammals. But even in the 1800s, these relics were considered to be only a few thousand years old, and to have been made by lost tribes of savages.

First human fossils discovered Even when the first part of a fossil human came to light in 1857, naturalists had a hard time recognizing it for what it truly was. German miners working at the Feldhofer Grotto in the Neander valley dug up a skullcap. It looked somewhat human, but it was remarkably thick and sported a massive brow ridge. Did it belong to an ancient individual from a human-like species now extinct? Or was Neanderthal man just an extreme member of Homo sapiens? One of the German naturalists who described the skull for the first time, Herman Schaaffhausen, was convinced of the latter. He ignored evidence that the skull had been found alongside extinct cave bears and mammoths, and claimed that it was some recent barbarian, perhaps a member of one of the wild tribes mentioned by Roman historians. Shortly after Darwin published the Origin of Species, his great champion Thomas Huxley (right) considered the skull from the Neander valley. Huxley shared some of the Euro-centric notions of his time. Based on their skulls, it was thought that Europeans had the best-developed brains, compared to the Australian aborigines with skulls having relatively low profiles and thicker brows.

This view led Huxley to consider Neanderthals as occupying a slightly lower position within Homo sapiens. Darwin publishes on human origins Amid these ambiguous developments, Darwin decided to say something about human origins. In 1871 he published The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, in which he argued that all of the known evidence was consistent with humans having evolved from a common ancestor shared with apes. He speculated that Africa was their place of origin and that human ancestors had gradually taken on their current form since then. He suggested that natural selection was not the only evolutionary pressure at work. Women might have preferred different traits in men, what Darwin called sexual selection , and this might have given rise to differences between the races. Darwin's ideas did not persuade his old correspondent, Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace decided that our oversized brains were far more powerful than necessary  we could easily survive with minds slightly more advanced than an ape's. The creation of humans must, he concluded, be the work of divine intervention. More human fossils discovered Fossils would be crucial to resolving this debate, but they were slow in coming.

It was not until 1886 that Neanderthal fossils were discovered for a second time  and this time, they included the jaw and other parts of the skeleton. Found in Spy, Belgium, these clearly came from ancient rocks, demonstrating that Neanderthals were not some barbarian tribe that lived a few centuries ago. The next year, Eugene Dubois (left), a young anatomist from Holland traveled to Indonesia in the hopes of finding fossils of early man. Since orangutans lived there, and since Dubois managed to secure a job as a medical officer in the Royal Dutch East Indies Army, it seemed like a good place for him to go prospecting. After four years of struggles, he hit pay dirt when he dug a pit in the side of the Solo River in eastern Java. He found fossil remains of something not quite human, but not quite ape. It stood upright, but its brain was far too small to qualify as human. It became known as Pithecanthropus erectus, meaning "upright ape-man." The Homo erectus skullcap discovered by Dubois. Fossil evidence and the acceptance of human evolution Dubois came back to Europe in 1895 to champion his discovery.

He met with some stiff opposition from skeptics. Some wondered whether the ape-like skull and the human-like femur came from the same skeleton. Others thought the skull was similar to Neanderthals. Dubois became embittered by the debate over his bones and hid the fossils from other scientists. But in time, as more fossils were uncovered in Asia, scientists came to recognize that Dubois had indeed found the first representative of the ancient species, Homo erectus. The twentieth century brought a great many more fossils of humans and hominids . Today twenty hominid species have been identified, the oldest of which date back six million years. They point to an African origin, as Darwin had proposed. Hominid evolution was sometimes pictured as a single line of descent and a steady progression from primitive forms to more advanced forms. The fossils suggested otherwise. Instead, hominid evolution produced a dense thicket of branches, with several species co-existing at any given time except for the last 30,000 years or so. Added to this wealth of data is the knowledge gathered from comparisons of DNA from humans, apes, and even Neanderthals.

While many questions remain to be answered about human evolution, scientists have a growing treasury of evidence at their disposal. Left: One possible model of the somewhat bushy path of human evolution. The letters correspond to the following species: A-Ardipithecus ramidus Homo erectus | eFossils Resources Forum Homo erectus may have been the first hominin to migrate out of Africa. A possibly descendant from Homo ergaster , fossil remains for H. erectus have been discovered at Koobi Fora (Kenya), Dmanisi (Georgia), Zhoukoudian (China), and at Java (Indonesia). H. erectus has an increased body and brain size (850-1250 cc), and exhibits sexual dimorphism. The H. erectus cranium has a pronounced brow ridge, a slightly prognathic face, an elongated cranium, and small cheek teeth. H. erectus is associated with manufacturing Acheulian stone tools. Recent finds, such as those at Daka in the Middle Awash have continued to spark debate as to the necessity for H. ergaster vs. H. erectus. The type specimen for H.

erectus is Trinil 2 which was found at Java and dates from 1 million to 700,000 years old. Quick Links: Skull sparks human evolution controversy - CNN.com 1.8 million-year-old fossils are a "snapshot in time," researcher says Fossils call into question the classification of distinct species of ancient human relatives Study authors argue there was one Homo erectus lineage that left Africa for Eurasia Other anthropologists don't buy the argument but say skull is important Fragments of humans' ancient relatives are scattered across the globe. Sometimes a tooth or a few bones are all we have to tell us about an entire species closely related to humans that lived thousands or millions of years ago. So when anyone finds a complete skull of a possible human ancestor, paleoanthropologists rejoice. But with new knowledge comes new controversy over a fossil's place in our species' very fuzzy family tree. In the eastern European nation of Georgia, a group of researchers has excavated a 1.8 million-year-old skull of an ancient human relative, whose only name right now is Skull 5. They report their findings in the journal Science , and say it belongs to our genus, called Homo.

"This is most complete early Homo skull ever found in the world," said lead study author David Lordkipanidze, researcher at the Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi. Skull 5 is the fifth example of a hominid -- a bipedal primate mammal that walked upright -- from this time period found at the site in Dmanisi, Georgia. Stone tools and animal bones have also been recovered from the area. JUST WATCHED MUST WATCH Shaking up evolutionary models 04:42 The variation in physical features among the Dmanisi hominid specimens is comparable to the degree of diversity found in humans today, suggesting that they all belong to one species, Lordkipanidze said. But "if you will put separately all these five skulls and five jaws in different places, maybe people will call it as a different species," he said. Now it gets more controversial: Lordkipanidze and colleagues also propose that these individuals are members of a single evolving Homo erectus species, examples of which have been found in Africa and Asia. The similarities between the new skull from Georgia and Homo erectus remains from Java, Indonesia, for example, may mean there was genetic "continuity across large geographic distances," the study said.

What's more, the researchers suggest that the fossil record of what have been considered different Homo species from this time period -- such as Homo ergaster , Homo rudolfensis and Homo habilis -- could actually be variations on a single species, Homo erectus . That defies the current understanding of how early human relatives should be classified. Because of Skull 5 and the other Dmanisi fossils, scientists are "rethinking what happened in Africa," Lordkipanidze said. The Dmanisi individuals appear to have long legs and short arms, based on the fossils that have been found, said study co-author Marcia Ponce de Leon, of the Anthropological Institute at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, at a press conference. The braincase of Skull 5 is 546 cubic centimeters, which is smaller than expected. The biggest brain case found at Dmanisi is 75% larger than the smallest one, which is consistent with what is observed in modern humans, said study co-author Christoph Zollikofer of the Anthropological Institute in Zurich. At Dmanisi, researchers believe carnivores and hominids were fighting over animal carcasses.

The stone tools appear to have been used in butchering, based on the cut marks on animal bones, Lordkipanidze said. They are comparable to tools that have been found in Africa. "It's a real snapshot in time," Lordkipanidze said of the Dmanisi site. Skull 5, excavated in 2005, was matched to a jaw discovered in 2000. The first example of a hominid fossil at Dmanisi was discovered in 1991. So what species came after Homo erectus in the history of human relatives? Scientists have no idea, Zollikofer said. "It would be nice to say this is the last common ancestor of Neanderthals and us, but we simply don't know," Zollikofer said. The Dmanisi fossils are a great find, say anthropology researchers not involved with the excavation. But they're not sold on the idea that this is the same Homo erectus from both Africa and Asia -- or that individual Homo species from this time period are really all one species.

"The specimen is wonderful and an important contribution to the hominin record in a temporal period where there are woefully too few fossils," said Lee Berger, paleoanthropologist at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, in an e-mail. But the suggestion that these fossils prove an evolving lineage of Homo erectus in Asia and Africa, Berger said, is "taking the available evidence too far." Berger led the team that discovered Australopithecus sediba , a possible human ancestor that lived around 2 million years ago in South Africa. He criticized the authors of the new study for not comparing the fossils at Dmanisi to A. sediba or to more recent fossils found in East Africa. Ancient fossils question human family tree Lordkipanidze said he and colleagues consider A. sediba to be earlier and more primitive than the Dmanisi hominids, and that there's "no doubt" the Georgian fossils belong to the Homo genus. But the selectivity of fossils compared to them in this study may have artificially biased the results toward the researchers' hypotheses, Berger said.

Ian Tattersall, curator emeritus at the American Museum of Natural History's anthropology division, said in an e-mail that there's "no way this extraordinarily important specimen is Homo erectus," if the skull fragment discovered in Trinil , Java, Indonesia, defines the features of the Homo erectus group. The New York museum's Hall of Human Origins takes visitors on a tour through human evolutionary history, showing distinct Homo species reflected in major fossil finds such as Turkana Boy (Homo ergaster) and Peking man (Homo erectus). The Dmanisi discovery may find a place there too, but it's probably not going to result in relabeling other species, Tattersall said. "Right now I certainly wouldn't change the Hall -- except to add the specimen, which really is significant," he said. There is an area of about 50,000 square meters at Dmanisi still to be excavated, so Skull 5 may have even more company. Homo erectus | Becoming Human Becoming Human Explore human lineage through time: discover your roots over a span of 7 million years.

September 29, 2010 Remains of Homo erectus are found throughout Africa and in western and eastern Asia (as far east as the island of Java in Indonesia). Other fossils, assigned by some scholars to this species, have been found in Europe, as far north as England. Homo erectus had a long tenure; the earliest Homo erectus fossils are dated to roughly 1.8 million years ago, while the youngest fossils assigned to this species date to roughly 300 thousand years ago (ka). Homo erectus is important to the study of human evolution because it is the first species to be found outside of Africa and displayed many anatomical features (especially brain size and aspects of the postcranial skeleton—i.e., the parts of the skeleton below the head) that reflect evolution toward the pattern seen in Homo sapiens. The taxonomy (the naming and assignment of species) of Homo erectus is controversial. Some scholars maintain that important differences exist between the Asian and African representatives of this species.

In particular, these scientists contend that features in the cranium (skull minus lower jaw)—e.g., large teeth, sagittal keels (narrow areas of thickened bone extending from just behind the brows to the back of the skull) and massiveness of the neurocranium (the part of the skull that covers and protects the brain) and face—are found only in Asian H. erectus fossils. To these paleoanthropologists, this evidence suggests that the Asian and African sample represent separate species; the name ‘Homo ergaster’ is given to the African fossils to formalize this species-level distinction. However, as other scholars argue, many of these traits are also found in some H. erectus fossils in Africa, suggesting that the entire sample constitutes a single species, Homo erectus. On this website (and for the remainder of this essay), the latter interpretation will be employed—i.e., ‘Homo erectus’ will be used to describe the entire sample (African and Asian). Many of the features that distinguish Homo erectus from other hominin species—both earlier and later species—are seen in the skull.

The average brain size of Homo erectus is estimated to have been roughly 900 cubic centimeters (cc.), which is larger than Homo habilis, but smaller than that of Homo heidelbergensis and other later forms. The size of the Homo erectus brain is negligibly larger than in Homo habilis when it is considered as in relation to body size—i.e., brain size increased substantially in Homo erectus, but, because body size also increased, the relative size of the Homo erectus brain is not considerably larger than that of Homo habilis. The absolute in brain size, however, caused changes in the brain case; for instance, the braincase is higher than in Homo habilis, but lower than in later hominin species. The Homo erectus braincase is also very long relative to its height, giving the skull a football-shape when viewed from the side. The braincase and the face and jaws of Homo erectus were very heavily built, with thick bones and extreme thickenings along some of the skull sutures (where two skull bones connect).

For instance, the browridges were massively built and continuous across the face and large, bony prominences existed in the back of the skull (the occipital torus and angular torus). Due to these prominences, the cranium of Homo erectus is pentagon-shaped when viewed from behind, with the widest area coinciding with the bottom of the cranium. In addition to their use to define the species, cranial remains have also been used to study the way that Homo erectus grew and developed into adulthood. Despite extensive study, scholars disagree about how the evidence bearing on this subject should be interpreted. Evidence from the teeth of Homo erectus fossils suggests that Homo erectus had not yet evolved the unique growth schedule exhibited by Homo sapiens. Using evidence from fossil crania, however, some scientists contend that H. erectus possessed otherwise uniquely human features, such as the juvenile growth spurt. Thus, it is currently unclear if the growth pattern found in Homo sapiens evolved in Homo erectus or in a later species. The postcranial remains of this taxon have traditionally been interpreted as being very similar to those of Homo sapiens.

The only notable difference is that the postcranial remains of Homo erectus are generally thicker and more massively-built than those of H. sapiens; all other features, though, point to striking similarities between the two species. The stature of Homo erectus, for example, has been suggested to be very similar to living humans and the hindlimb (leg) of Homo erectus is much longer than in earlier forms for which good evidence exists. Therefore, the proportion of the hind- to forelimb length (leg to arm) in Homo erectus is considered to be almost identical to that of Homo sapiens. Because of these similarities, most scholars believe that Homo erectus was the first hominin species that was capable of a bipedal form of locomotion indistinguishable from that of Homo sapiens. Recent research, however, suggests that key fossils assigned to Homo erectus were much shorter than previously thought and argues that modern human stature may not have been present in Homo erectus. To wit, recent fossil finds in Kenya suggest that Homo erectus was quite variable in size and that sexual dimorphism (differences between males and females within a species) may have been greater than previously believed.

Whether it was due to its possession of human-like gait or not, Homo erectus is the first hominin species to have been found outside of Africa. Many sites bearing Homo erectus fossils have been discovered in China and Indonesia. In general, these sites are later than Homo erectus sites in Africa. At a site called Dmanisi in the Republic of Georgia, however, fossil assigned to Homo erectus have been found in sediments dated to 1.7 mya. The fossils at Dmanisi suggest that bands of Homo erectus began migrating out of Africa at a time very close its origin. Interestingly, though, the postcranial remains from Dmanisi are more primitive (more similar to earlier species; e.g., the hindlimb was relatively longer) than those found at many other sites. The ability of Homo erectus to colonize land outside of Africa was also largely dependent on the new technology this species invented to deal with its surroundings. Homo erectus was the first species to actively control fire; the first good evidence for controlled fire is from a Homo erectus site in Israel and is dated to roughly 780 ka. Homo erectus also invented new technology for making stone tools.

The types of tools used by this species are called the Acheulean industry. The Acheulean industry consists largely of handaxes (large, teardrop-shaped artifacts) and cleavers (large artifacts with chips removed on either side of one end to create a sharp edge), but other tool types are also included. Handaxes are particularly emblematic of the Acheulean industry. These artifacts are bifacially worked (chips removed from both sides of the original rock), creating sharp edges on most surfaces. Handaxes have been traditionally considered to be tools, but a growing minority of scientists now argues that it was the flakes of stones that were removed from the original rock that were the tools that were ultimately utilized for hunting, butchery, and other tasks. Handaxes are found much less abundantly at sites in eastern Asia. This fact may be due to underrepresentation of Homo erectus site in the region (due, in turn, to lack of scientific efforts in the region and/or a real dearth of sites) or to the fact that other materials (e.g., bamboo) that do not preserve in the archaeological record replaced handaxes.

It is also possible that Homo erectus lost the tradition of making handaxes as it migrated from Africa to eastern Asia. No consensus has been reached on this subject. The evolutionary relationships between Homo erectus and other hominin species are not fully resolved. Many scholars believe that Homo erectus evolved from Homo habilis, probably in East Africa. Recent finds in Kenya, however, have increased the temporal range of Homo habilis, suggesting that the two species overlapped greatly in time and causing some scientists to question the direct linkage between Homo habilis and Homo erectus. It is generally agreed, however, that Homo heidelbergensis evolved from Homo erectus in Africa and spread across the Old World replacing later populations of Homo erectus, in much the same way that Homo sapiens replaced Homo heidelbergensis and Homo neanderthalensis three-quarters of a million years later (see essays on Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis). Homo erectus - RationalWiki Homo erectus Would you eject this man from your garden of eden? Yes, we have heard that joke before. Stop it.

We're all homos here v - t - e Homo erectus is an extinct hominid species that originated in East Africa about 1.8 to 1.9 million years ago. They survived until at least 800,000 years ago although some researchers put the date of their extinction as recently as 70 thousand years ago or less. Found in Africa, Asia , and possibly Europe , they were the most far-ranging hominid species to have existed before Homo sapiens and the first to come out of Africa. This species is credited with significant advances in the use of stone tools including the earliest hand axes, [1] cleavers, and other large cutting tools. They used fire, ate meat, and hunted. [2] They were likely capable of speech, and evidence indicates they cared for their old and weak, just like Homo sapiens do today. The species was discovered by Eugene Dubois in Java, Indonesia , in 1891. The "Turkana Boy" or "Nariokotome Boy" fossil , discovered by R. Leakey and A.

Walker at Nariokotome, Kenya , in 1984, is the most complete early human skeleton ever discovered. It is approximately 1.6 million years old, though it may have been Homo ergaster , the identification of which scientists disagree pending further evidence. Million and a half year-old footprints found in Kenya by Rutgers University's John Harris on February 27, 2009, left clues to the nature of the gait of H. erectus and the structure of its foot. Homo erectus is likely a descendant as well as a contemporary of Homo habilis , and the entire population appears to have gradually evolved into H. sapiens. Some researchers identify the early African material as Homo ergaster . Fossils from China may be referred to as "Peking man" and those from Indonesia as "Java man." Contents [ edit ] Physical characteristics H. erectus demonstrates transitional features between australopithecines and modern humans.

An individual could resemble a robust modern human at about 4'9" to 6'1" (1.45-1.58 m) in height and about 88 to 150 pounds (40-68 kg) with decreased sexual dimorphism compared to earlier hominids. It is likely that its growth rate was similar to that of great apes and that H. erectus was largely hairless. The increase in brain size from the australopithecines to approximately 900-930 cc nonetheless represents a significant statistical difference from that of modern humans, which is approximately 1350 cc, and H. erectus therefore had lower mental ability than do modern humans. Features of the skull, jaw, and teeth were transitional between australopithecines and modern humans. There were noticeable differences between the neck and spine of this species and those of modern humans. The chest was more barrel-shaped rather than the funnel-shaped chest of australopithecines. The pelvis might have been narrower than that of modern humans, indicating a smaller infant brain size. H.

erectus possibly used fire, since the evidence for controlled fire dates from between 400,000 to 1,000,000 years ago. [3] [4] [5] However, evidence of three different species of tapeworms (Taenia saginata, T. asiatica and T. solium) in H. erectus fossils indicates that H. erectus was eating raw meat . [6] Katherine Zink and Daniel Lieberman conducted experiments with humans eating different foods ( goat meat, yams, carrots, and beets) unprepared, pounded with a stone to soften it, sliced or cooked. [7] [8] The researchers then compared the number of chews needed to eat the food. Participants couldn't break apart 3 gm chunks of raw goat meat after 40 chews, but could eat raw goat slices after an average of 31 chews. The overall conclusion was that H. erectus would need to chew their food less often (2.5 million fewer chews per year!) if they ate sliced goat with pounded roots.

The hypothesized end-result of this increased net caloric consumption was reduced need for large teeth and jaw muscles, that in turn allowed for larger brains and bodies. [7] [8] Although H. erectus walked and ran bipedally on the ground, its gait was not as efficient as that of modern humans. His feet had a combination of early hominid and human traits. H. erectus arms and legs were similar to those of modern humans. [ edit ] Creationists' viewpoints In order to maintain their claim that men appeared suddenly and without prior evolutionary history, it is necessary for creationists to identify early hominid fossils as being either "fully human" or "fully ape." [9] However, there is a lack of agreement among creationists as to which fossils to call ape and which to call human. [10] An Answers in Genesis (AIG) article notes that H. erectus was traditionally placed with apes, however more recently tends to be placed with humans. [11] It is also interesting to note that the author admits he disagrees with creationist Marvin Lubenow about where to place Homo habilis. To demonstrate that H.

erectus is fully human, the website "Darwinism Refuted" claims, "There is no difference between the postcranial skeleton of modern man and that of Homo erectus." [12] In addition to admitting that there are differences in the skulls, this statement ignores differences such as those in the neck, spine, pelvis, feet, growth rate, and others noted by paleontologists . As further evidence that H. erectus was human, the website presents a recent photograph of a guy with a sloping forehead and additionally a supportive quote from Lubenow, a young Earth creationist per CreationWiki . The author of the above-mentioned AIG article notes one G. I. Beasley's speculation that apparent differences between H.

erectus fossils and modern human skeletons could be caused by "prolongation of skeletal maturation and greater longevity potential; environmental; and dietary/pathological pressures within a post-Deluge framework." The author goes on to proclaim, "Beasley's paper is a land-mark in creationist research on this subject, and every Christian should possess a copy with which to question materialist-minded educators." Beasley's essential "research" referenced is an essay titled "A possible creationist interpretation of archaic fossil human remains" that appeared in the Journal of Creation in 1992. Greg Beasley is an engineering analyst with Sydney, Australia 's, CityRail. [13] The AIG article poses the question of how, given that H. erectus was supposed to have evolved into H. sapiens, do anthropologists "reconcile the presence in Australia of both modern sapiens types and erectus types all within the last 35,000 years?" In fact, although the Kow Swamp people that were mentioned do bear a superficial resemblance to H. erectus, it is not the scientific consensus that this indicates the species existed in Australia at this late date.

[14] The AIG article uses the gradual evolution from H. erectus to H. sapiens as evidence that they are the same species. Additionally both this article and the above-mentioned "Darwinism Refuted" webpage refer to the minority opinion of paleoanthropologist Milford Wolpoff that the species H. erectus is redundant and that for taxonomic reasons it should be sunk into H. sapiens. Both of these arguments fail to recognize the clear differences between the species. AIG further makes the claim that the creationist view would eliminate any perceived confusion regarding the species making up the genus Homo. The author notes, "On the other hand, if creationists are right in believing that earth has only a short history (measured in millennia, rather than millions of years), then there would be no argument — all forms of Homo (except the phantom-like H. habilis), would form just a single contemporary species." This logic demonstrates the creationist tendency to seek evidence that supports the conclusion rather than to let the evidence lead to it . In another AIG article we find the creationist explanation for the existence of H. erectus fossils.

Therein the author reasons that at the time of Babel humans must have looked like H. erectus, since he was the first hominid to spread out over the Earth and the Bible indicates that humans did not do so until after the flood . The article also claims, "Aside from the skull, Homo erectus skeletons are virtually indistinguishable from modern humans, so the evidence indicates they are human." [15] The fallacies involved in these arguments include the observation that H. erectus could not possibly have had the culture described in the relevant Bible passages. For a more in-depth examination of the fallacies involved in this article, see Brayton (2008). [16]

Question: Where was the first fossil 'Homo Erectus' found?
Answer: Indonesia