Homo gautengensis
| Homo gautengensis Temporal range: Pleistocene
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| Species: | H. gautengensis
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| Homo gautengensis Curnoe, 2010
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Homo gautengensis is, as of May 2010, the earliest recognized species in the genus Homo.
Discovery and analysis
Analysis announced in May 2010 of a partial skull found decades earlier in South Africa's Sterkfontein Caves near Johannesburg identified the species, named Homo gautengensis by anthropologist Dr Darren Curnoe of the UNSW School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences. While earlier fossils belong to the genus Homo, none have yet been classified in any species. [1]
The species' first remains were originally discovered in 1977 but had been left largely ignored.[2] They had been catalogued Stw 53 and were noted as being anomalous.[3]
Background
Identification of H. gautengensis was based on partial skulls, several jaws, teeth and other bones found at various times at the Caves. It emerged over 2 million years ago and died out approximately 600,000 years ago, and is believed to have arisen earlier than Homo habilis.[4]
Description
According to Curnoe, who led the research project, Homo gautengensis had big teeth suitable for chewing plant material.[5] It was "small-brained" and "large-toothed," and was "probably an ecological specialist, consuming more vegetable matter than Homo erectus, Homo sapiens, and probably even Homo habilis." It apparently produced and used stone tools and may even have made fire, as there is evidence for burnt animal bones associated with H. gautengensis' remains.[4]
Curnoe and South African paleoanthropologist colleague Phillip Tobias believe H. gautengensis stood just over 3 feet tall and weighed about 110 pounds. (note that - scaled up, this is equivalent to a human of twice the height, say 1.9m - or about 6 feet 3 inches - weighing [twice the height] cubed, or eight times, the weight - or 400 Kg - say 64 stones. Some might think, therefore, that the weight is overestimated by a factor of 2 or more.)
It walked on two feet when on the ground, "but probably spent considerable time in trees, perhaps feeding, sleeping and escaping predators," Curnoe said.[4]
The researchers believe it lacked speech and language skills, which help make humans today unique among other animals. Due to its anatomy and geological age, researchers think that it was a close relative of Homo sapiens but not necessarily a direct ancestor. [4]
Implications
Earlier in 2010, it was announced that the "missing link" human species may have been Australopithecus sediba. However, A. sediba was "much more primitive than H. gautengensis, and lived at the same time and in the same place," according to Curnoe, and as a result, "Homo gautengensis makes Australopithecus sediba look even less likely to be the ancestor of humans."[4]
One reason for the sudden increase in the discovery of Homo species is improved analysis methods, often based on prior finds, DNA work, and a better understanding of where such remains might exist. [5]
Curnoe instead proposes that Australopithecus garhi, found in Ethiopia and dating to about 2.5 million years ago, is a better possibility for the earliest non-Homo direct ancestor in the human evolutionary line.[4]
Bones even older than those of Homo gautengensis await study and classification. According to Colin Groves, a professor in the School of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Australian National University in Canberra, "Here were a number of distinctive, perhaps short-lived, species of proto-humans living in both eastern and southern Africa in the period between 2 and 1 million years ago."[5]
See also
- Denisova hominin, another stem-human species identified in 2010
- Australopithecus sediba, a contemporary stem-human species, also identified in 2010
References
- ^ Curnoe, D. (2010). "A review of early Homo in southern Africa focusing on cranial, mandibular and dental remains, with the description of a new species (Homo gautengensis sp. nov.)". Journal of Comparative Human Biology. doi:10.1016/j.jchb.2010.04.002.
- ^ "New species of human ancestor identified"
- ^ "Reappraisal of the taxonomic status of the cranium Stw 53 from the Plio/Pleistocene of Sterkfontein, in South Africa"
- ^ a b c d e f "Toothy Tree-Swinger May Be Earliest Human"
- ^ a b c "Get Ready for More Proto-Humans"