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What are the species of early humans?

Jeremy Anderson

What are the species of early humans?

Here is New Scientist’s primer to help you understand a little bit more about seven of the most important human species in our evolutionary tree.

  • Homo habilis (“handy” man)
  • Homo erectus (“upright man”)
  • Homo neanderthalensis (the Neanderthal)
  • The Denisovans.
  • Homo floresiensis (the “hobbit”)
  • Homo naledi (“star man”)

How many different species of early humans existed?

Nine human species walked the Earth 300,000 years ago. Now there is just one. The Neanderthals, Homo neanderthalensis, were stocky hunters adapted to Europe’s cold steppes. The related Denisovans inhabited Asia, while the more primitive Homo erectus lived in Indonesia, and Homo rhodesiensis in central Africa.

What was the first species of early humans?

Homo erectus characteristics H. erectus is the oldest known species to have a human-like body, with relatively elongated legs and shorter arms in comparison to its torso. It had an upright posture.

How did different species of humans evolve?

Over time, genetic change can alter a species’ overall way of life, such as what it eats, how it grows, and where it can live. Human evolution took place as new genetic variations in early ancestor populations favored new abilities to adapt to environmental change and so altered the human way of life.

What are the 4 species of humans?

When I drew up a family tree covering the last one million years of human evolution in 2003, it contained only four species: Homo sapiens (us, modern humans), H. neanderthalensis (the Neanderthals), H. heidelbergensis (a supposedly ancestral species), and H. erectus (an even more ancient and primitive species).

What are the 14 species of humans?

But the truth is that Homo sapiens(modern humans) is the only surviving species in the genus, all others having become extinct.

  • Homo gautengensis. Reconstruction of the skull of a Homo gautengensis.
  • Homo habilis.
  • Homo ergaster.
  • Homo erectus.
  • Homo rudolfensis.
  • Homo antecessor.
  • Homo cepranensis.
  • Homo heidelbergensis.