Homo-habilis tools

The earliest of our ancestors to show a significant increase in brain size and also the first to be found associated with stone tools. This is the same genus or group name as the one give to modern humans and is used to show the close relationship between this species and our own. The discovery of Homo habilis began in when two teeth were unearthed at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania by a team led by Louis and Mary Leakey.

Their brain size, features of their hands and feet, and evidence that they may have used stone tools all suggested that a new type of human ancestor had been found. They were officially announced as new species in but their placement into the human genus Homo was controversial.

Additional fossils, including the discovery of a partial skeleton in , have revealed that this species was more ape-like than previously believed. This species was initially considered to be a direct ancestor of modern humans but fossil discoveries in the mids showed that Homo habilis had rather ape-like limb proportions.

This evidence led to a reassessment of Homo habilis and its relationship to modern humans. Many scientists no-longer regard this species as one of our direct ancestors and instead have moved it onto a side branch of our family tree. The debate about Homo habilis continues following the discovery of some skulls at Dmanisi in the Republic of Georgia. Two of the skulls are very similar to Homo ergaster but one appears to have features intermediate between Homo habilis and Homo ergaster and may represent a link between these two species.

If so, Homo habilis may be a direct ancestor of modern humans or that they both evolved from a yet-undiscovered species. Homo habilis arose at a time when there is a relative gap in the fossil record between 2 and 3 million years ago.

This makes it difficult to determine where it came from or how it is related to the earlier australopithecines. More fossil evidence is needed to resolve this issue. Homo habilis has been a controversial species ever since the name was first announced. The fossils originally named Homo habilis have now been split into two groups. One group retains the name Homo habilis although some scientists prefer the name Australopithecus habilis because these individuals have physical similarities with the australopithecines.

These individuals are now placed in a different species but there is debate as to whether these fossils should be named Homo rudolfensis, Australopithecus rudolfensis or Kenyanthropus rudolfensis.

Scientists often disagree about naming fossil specimens. Scientific names may be changed following new discoveries, different interpretations or new lines of investigation. Homo habilis is a well-known but poorly defined species and scientific opinions about the attributed specimens vary widely. Homo habilis had a larger brain than earlier human ancestors and this is reflected in significant changes to the shape of the skull.

However, many other features including limb proportions are similar to those of the earlier australopithecine ancestors. Homo habilis may have been the first of our ancestors to make stone tools.

This represented a significant change in mental capabilities and a shift toward new survival strategies. The first crude stone tools consisting of simple choppers, core tools and scrapers were made as early as 2.

It is uncertain who the makers of these earliest stone tools were. The tool makers may have been early populations of Homo habilis or they may have been made by another species. One such candidate is represented by the fossil AL , which has been provisionally named Homo sp. Mode 1 technology includes core tools, choppers and smaller flakes used as scrapers. They are often called Oldowan stone tools as the first discoveries of these tools occurred at Oldoway now Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania in east Africa.

These tools were a simple progression from the use of sticks and natural, unmodified stones that our earliest ancestors probably used. The chopping or cutting edges on Oldowan tools were created by using one stone the hammerstone to strike another the core in order to remove one or more rock fragments flakes. Homo habilis lived in a predominantly grassland environment. The climate was becoming cooler and drier and this may have been the impetus for new feeding strategies that included scavenging and tool use.

Chemical analysis suggests that this species was mainly vegetarian but did include some meat in their diet. The Australian Museum respects and acknowledges the Gadigal people as the First Peoples and Traditional Custodians of the land and waterways on which the Museum stands.

Image credit: gadigal yilimung shield made by Uncle Charles Chicka Madden. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more. When found, this skull had been badly crushed and was reconstructed from hundreds of fragments.

It also shows some distortion of the bones that occurred before fossilisation was complete. Read our cookies policy. A group of Homo habilis use their sharp tools to cut the meat from this rhinoceros carcass in Tanzania, East Africa, about 2 million years ago. They were the first of our ancestors to make stone tools, and to use them to make other special tools.

The tools were used for cutting and chopping meat, and for breaking bones. Eating more meat than earlier humans may have helped the brain of Homo habilis grow. The core chopper was the main tool that Homo habilis made. It was used to chop up carcasses and break animal bones to reach the rich marrow inside.