Homo rudolfensis

Homo rudolfensis is the name of a fossil species of Hominidé appeared Bipède approximately 2,4 million years ago. It owes its name specific to the lake Rudolf, old name of the Lac Turkana. It belongs to the human line and more precisely to the kind Homo to which also the Homo sapiens belongs. The Homo rudolfensis is with the Homo habilis the first representative of the kind Homo .

History and definition

Regarded in the past as representatives of the species Homo habilis , certain fossils is African were allotted as from 1986 to Homo rudolfensis , a species with whole share according to work of V.P. Alexeev. Today still, certain scientists always regard them as representatives of Homo habilis . One found fossils of Homo rudolfensis in Tanzania (site of Olduvai), with the Kenya (site of Koobi Fora) and in Ethiopia (site of the Omo).

It is generally considered that the Homo rudolfensis disappeared there are approximately 1,6 million years. Consequently, it cohabited with the Homo habilis , the Australopithèque S, the Homo ergaster and the Homo erectus , first representative of the kind Homo to have left the African cradle. This cohabitation between various species of the human line proves that the evolution of this line is buissonnante and nonlinear.

Main features

The cranial capacity of the Homo rudolfensis is of 750 cm ³ on average. It is thus comparable even higher than that of the Homo habilis . H. rudolfensis measured approximately 1,60 m for a weight of approximately 50 kg.

It presented a thick dome of the skull and had large incisors. The shape of the scale of the temporal bone was high and round.

See too

“'' Homo rudolfensis '' and '' Homo habilis '', Of the difficulty in defining '' Homo habilis ''”, Sandrine Prat, CNRS.

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