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The changing face of genus Homo
Author(s) -
Wood Bernard,
Collard Mark
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
evolutionary anthropology: issues, news, and reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.401
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1520-6505
pISSN - 1060-1538
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6505(1999)8:6<195::aid-evan1>3.0.co;2-2
Subject(s) - homo erectus , paleoanthropology , genus , taxon , evolutionary biology , face (sociological concept) , human evolution , trace (psycholinguistics) , zoology , biology , paleontology , sociology , philosophy , pleistocene , linguistics , social science
Since its introduction in the 18th century, the genus Homo has undergone a number of reinterpretations, all of which have served to make it a more inclusive taxon. In this paper, we trace this trend towards greater inclusiveness, and explain how it has affected the way Homo is defined. We then demonstrate that the current criteria for identifying species of Homo are difficult, if not impossible, to operate using paleoanthropological evidence. We discuss alternative, verifiable, criteria, and show that when these new criteria are applied to Homo , two species, Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis, fail to meet them. We contend that the lowest boundary of Homo should be redrawn so that the earliest species in the genus is Homo ergaster, or early African Homo erectus. The appearance of this species at around 1.9 Myr appears to mark a distinct shift in hominin adaptive strategy involving morphological and behavioral innovations.