Habilis and contemporary erectus

2007/09/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Geologia
• Paleontologia
• Giza zientziak
• Arkeologia

The oldest ancestors of the human race are Homo habilis and Homo erectus, and so far it has been believed that the second evolved from the first, but this conviction has been challenged by a finding in the north of Kenya, within the Koobi Fora Research Project.

The discovery is double: They find a jaw of a Homo habilis and an entire skull of a Homo erectus. Both are from the same time: the gag 1,44 million years ago and the skull 1,55 million years ago. Well, the jaw is from the time when it was believed that the Homo habilis had disappeared, which shows that H. habilis and H. erectus lived in the same era (long, in addition, half a million years or). It is undoubtedly a discovery that will surprise the powders.

But, as we have said, the discovery is not there. They have focused on the size of the skull of H. erectus, since the findings so far are much larger. And according to experts working on the project, the only possibility to explain this difference in size is sexual dimorphism: females were much smaller than males. This characteristic is very primitive and, if true, it would show that the species H. erectus is farther from what was thought of the human being.