Homo rudolfensis is a fossil hominin species proposed in 1986 by V. P. Alexeev for the specimen Skull 1470 (KNM ER 1470). Originally thought to be a member of the species Homo habilis, the fossil was the center of much debate concerning its species. Skull 1470 has an estimated age of 1.9 million years. It was found by Bernard Ngeneo, a member of a team led by anthropologist Richard Leakey, in 1972 at Koobi Fora on the east side of Lake Rudolf (now Lake Turkana) in Kenya.

Assigned initially to Homo habilis, the skull was at first dated at nearly three million years old. This estimate, however, caused much confusion that would have made it older than any known australopithecine, from whom Homo habilis had supposedly descended. It was thought that two 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 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.

As in the case of 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 features unique 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 its large brain and bipedal locomotion.

See also

• Cranial capacity

Footnote

External links

• Science Daily article
• Skull KNM-ER 1470 at talkorigins.org

early hominids | Pliocene

Homo rudolfensis | Homo rudolfensis | Člověk východoafrický | Homo rudolfensis | Homo rudolfensis | Homo rudolfensis | Homo rudolfensis | Homo rudolfensis | Cranio 1470 | Homo rudolfensis | Homo rudolfensis | Homo rudolfensis | Homo rudolfensis | Človek turkanský | Rudolfmänniska