In 1959, a significant event took place when teeth were discovered at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. These teeth were identified as belonging to a hominin species known as Homo habilis, which for decades held a special place as the first hominin to be given the title of Homo and considered as our earliest Homo ancestor. However, as more evidence and research emerge, the question arises: is Homo habilis truly the first Homo species, or is there more to the story?

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Works Cited

  • “Discovery of 2.8-million-year-old Jaw Sheds Light on Early Humans.” ScienceDaily, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150304141454.htm.
  • Evolution: Humans: Origins of Humankind. www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/humans/humankind/j.html.
  • “Homo Habilis.” The Smithsonian Institution’s Human Origins Program, 1 July 2022, humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-habilis.
  • Origins and Evolution of Human Language: Homo Habilis and Homo Erectus. www.ruf.rice.edu/%7Ekemmer/Evol/habiliserectus.html.
  • Sapiens. “The First Butchers.” SAPIENS, 8 Sept. 2022, www.sapiens.org/biology/homo-sapiens-and-tool-making.
  • Shreeve, Jamie. “Oldest Human Fossil Found, Redrawing Family Tree.” Science, 4 May 2021, www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/150304-homo-habilis-evolution-fossil-jaw-ethiopia-olduvai-gorge?loggedin=true.
  • Spoor, Fred. “Reconstructed Homo Habilis Type OH 7 Suggests Deep-rooted Species Diversity in Early Homo.” Nature, 4 Mar. 2015, www.nature.com/articles/nature14224?error=cookies_not_supported&code=1eb958cc-fbe9-40fa-8f2c-652d82c47aee.
  • Stefano Di Criscio. “Bernard Wood: The Homo Habilis and the Origin of Modern Humans.” YouTube, 10 Apr. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmWqojkcJ_8.
  • The Australian Museum. “Homo Habilis.” The Australian Museum, australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/homo-habilis.
  • University of California Television (UCTV). “CARTA: Origins of Genus Homo – William Kimbel: Australopithecus and the Emergence of Earliest Homo.” YouTube, 20 Apr. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrP8nl0gvTA.
  • Villmoare, Brian, et al. “Early            Homo            at 2.8 Ma From Ledi-Geraru, Afar, Ethiopia.” Science, vol. 347, no. 6228, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Mar. 2015, pp. 1352–55. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaa1343.
  • Wood, Bernard. “Human Evolution: Fifty Years After Homo Habilis.” Nature, 2 Apr. 2014, www.nature.com/articles/508031a?error=cookies_not_supported&code=cb2a30a7-c968-498c-8011-8fc186a67e01.
  • Jonathan Marks. “Dr  Leakey and the Dawn of Man (1966).” YouTube, 4 June 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyQDhBGSyC4.

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