Are Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis the same species?

At this point in time, most scientists are in favour of upholding the separation between Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis. Some scientists do argue they should instead be lumped together into one, more varied species, however, but this is not the majority view.

What did Homo rudolfensis eat?

Homo rudolfensis were dietary generalists that ate a variety of foodstuffs, including C3 plants. Because of their fairly robust molars, they would have been able to eat tougher, more fibrous fruit, leaves, and grasses.

What does the name Homo rudolfensis mean?

The name of Homo rudolfensis refers both to its current place within the genus of Homo, as well as to the location where the first Homo rudolfensis specimen (the skull known as KNM-ER 1470) was found in 1972 at a site situated along the shores of Lake Turkana in Kenya, the old name of which was Lake Rudolf.

Homo Rudolfensis Timeline

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Definition

Homo rudolfensis is an early human species that lived in East Africa between c. 2.5 and 1.8 million years ago. It is known from a handful of skull, jaw and teeth fragments that remind alternatingly of Homo or of Australopithecus and that piece together to reveal a relatively large-brained, flat-faced species with robust teeth capable of chewing through tough plants.

More about: Homo Rudolfensis

Timeline

c. 2600000 BCE - c. 12000 BCE
The Pleistocene epoch, ranging from c. 2,6 million years ago until c. 12,000 years ago. It is characterised by repeated cycles of glacials and interglacials.
c. 2600000 BCE - c. 1000000 BCE
Oldowan tool industry.
c. 2500000 BCE - c. 1800000 BCE
Known timespan within which fossils attributed to Homo rudolfensis fall.

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