This is the most complete skeleton yet of our ancestor Homo habilis

It is the most complete skeleton of our ancestor. Homo habilis

By K. R. Callaway edited by Andrea Thompson

A skeleton discovered in the Lake Turkana Basin region of northern Kenya constitutes the most complete set of remains ever discovered. Homo habilis, a species that was one of the earliest members of the Homo genus and lived more than two million years ago. Its large brain and flat face, attributes found in humans today, have long distinguished the species from earlier hominids such as African Australopithecus. A new study analyzing the unique, complete skeleton, however, suggests H. habilisThe body looked much less modern.

The analysis of the bones, published on January 13 in the Anatomical file, confirms previous hypotheses about the species, such as that H. habilis had long, strong arms that more closely resembled those of apes than modern humans. In addition, H. habilis was small, perhaps even smaller than Lucy, a 3.2 million-year-old hominid specimen known for its small size.

“A discovery like this gives hope,” says William Harcourt-Smith, a paleoanthropologist at the American Museum of Natural History, who was not involved in the study. “It was difficult with Homo habilisbecause there are very limited and disjointed remains. This shows us that hard work on the ground and constant pursuit of these resources pays big dividends.

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Some of the skeleton’s teeth were first discovered in Lake Turkana sediments by Arbollo Aike of the Koobi Fora research project in 2012. Over the next two years, the study authors followed a trail of bone fragments downward for several meters, uncovering more teeth and a series of larger upper body bones. The fully excavated skeleton includes a nearly complete set of lower teeth, both clavicles, upper arm and forearm bones, and fragments of the shoulder blades and pelvis.

Analyzing the bones took more than a decade, study co-author Ashley Hammond said in a statement. The researchers first had to ensure that all the bones came from the same individual and that this individual really came from the H. habilis species. “Luckily for us, teeth are one of the most diagnostic parts of the skeleton for identifying hominid species,” says Carrie Mongle, study co-author and assistant professor of anthropology at Stony Brook University.

The construction of H. habilis’ lower body. The pelvic fragment found with the new skeleton suggests that the species may have walked more upright than previous hominids, Mongle says. Still, more information about the lower body is needed to know exactly where the species fits into the evolution of human posture and gait.

Because H. habilis is one of the earliest members of our genus, better understanding this species helps shed light on the evolution that led to ours, researchers say.

“This study highlights how crucial individual fossil finds can be,” says Rebecca Wragg Sykes, an honorary research fellow in archeology at the University of Cambridge and the University of Liverpool in England, who was not involved in the study. “A few new fragments can transform our vision not only of this species, but also [of] their evolutionary context too.

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