Homo rudolfensis is a fossil hominin species originally proposed in 1986 by V. P. Alexeev for the specimen Skull 1470 (KNM ER 1470)[1]. Originally thought to be a member of the species Homo habilis, much debate surrounded the fossil and its species assignment. Skull 1470 is an estimated age of 1.9 million years. It was found by Bernard Ngeneo, a member of a team led by anthropoligist Richard Leakey, in 1972 at Koobi Fora on the east side of Lake Rudolf (now Lake Turkana).
Assigned initially to Homo habilis, it was originally dated at nearly 3 million years old. However, this figure caused much confusion as at the time it was older than any known australopithecine, from whom Homo habilis had supposedly descended. It was thought that 2 million years ago there existed a single species in the genus Homo, and this species evolved in a linear fashion into modern humans.
The differences in this skull, when compared to other habilines, are too pronounced, leading to the formulation of the species Homo rudolfensis, contemporary with Homo habilis. It is not yet certain if H. rudolfensis was ancestral to the later species in Homo, or if H. habilis was, or if some third species yet to be discovered was.
Like H. habilis, there is large amount of controversy about the classification of H. rudolfensis into the Homo genus. Although no reliably associated postcranial remains have been discovered for H. rudolfensis, it is thought that like H. habilis, H. rudolfensis lacked many of the things that were unique only to later hominins such as slim hips for walking long distances, a sophisticated sweating system, narrow birth canal, legs longer than arms, noticeable whites in the eyes, smaller hairs resulting in naked appearance and exposed skins, etc. Many scientists think H. rudolfensis to be more ape-like despite their large brains and bipedal locomotion.
See also
Footnote
- ^ KNM-ER 1470: Kenya National Museum; East Rudolf; item 1470
External links
The content of this page is retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_rudolfensis under GFDL
