Homo ergaster
From Freepedia
| Homo ergaster Conservation status: Fossil | ||||||||||||||||
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| Image:15kman3.jpg H. ergaster Turkana Boy | ||||||||||||||||
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| Homo ergaster Groves & Mazak, 1975 |
Homo ergaster ("working man") is an extinct hominid species (or subspecies, according to some authorities) which arose in Africa some 1.9 million years ago with the advent of the lower Pleistocene and the cooling of the global climate.
H. ergaster is sometimes categorized as a subspecies of Homo erectus. It is currently in contention whether H. ergaster or the later, Asian H. erectus was the direct ancestor of modern humans. H. ergaster may be distinguished from H. erectus by its thinner skull bones and lack of an obvious sulcus. Derived features include reduced sexual dimorphism, a smaller more orthognathic face, a smaller dental arcade, and a larger (800cc) brain. It is estimated that H. ergaster stood at 1.9m (6ft) tall. Remains have been found in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, and out of Africa in Georgia.
The type specimen of H. ergaster is KNM-ER 992; the species was named by Groves and Mazak in 1975.
The species name originates from the Greek ergaster meaning "Workman". This name was chosen due to the discovery of various tools such as hand-axes and cleavers near the skeletal remains of H. ergaster. This is one of the reasons that it is sometimes set apart distinctly from other human ancestors. Its use of advanced (rather than simple) tools was unique to this species; H. ergaster tool use belongs to the Acheulean industry. H. ergaster first began using these tools 1.6 million years ago. Charred animal bones in fossil deposits and traces of camps suggest that the species made creative use of fire.
Reference
- Tattersall, Ian and Schwartz, Jeffrey. "Extinct Humans". Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado and Cumnor Hill, Oxford, 2000. ISBN 0-8133-3482-9 (hc)
