Homo habilis: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	Australopithecus habilis

Photos and Videos

An illustration of Homo habilis, an early human ancestor, shown walking upright with a hairy body and ape-like features. A scale beside the figure indicates height in inches and centimeters.

lower jaw of Homo habilis

A timeline chart displays major fossil discoveries linked to Homo habilis from 1960 to 2000, with illustrations and brief descriptions of each find, including partial skeletons, skulls, jaws, and leg bones, along with locations, estimated ages, and discoverers.

OH 24 “Twiggy” fossil

replica of KNM-ER 1470

KNM-ER 1813 fossil

oldest human mandible

Diagram showing the increase in hominid cranial capacity over time with illustrations of skulls from various species, including Australopithecus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, Homo neanderthalensis, and Homo sapiens, arranged along a timeline and brain volume scale for comparison.

A timeline chart showing the evolution of hominins over the past 4 million years, with colored bars representing different Australopithecus and Homo species diverging over time, ending with Homo sapiens at present.

Illustration showing side-by-side reconstructions of five hominins in the human lineage: Australopithecus afarensis, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis, and Homo sapiens, with each figure labeled and depicted in a walking pose to highlight evolutionary changes in posture and body structure. A scale bar at the top right indicates relative height.

What was the first human species?

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Topics

Koobi Fora remains human evolution Pleistocene Epoch Pliocene Epoch fossil Homo Australopithecus Homo erectus Neanderthal Australopithecus sediba Denisovan Cro-Magnon Homo floresiensis Homo heidelbergensis Boskop skull Homo naledi

Key People

Richard Leakey

Richard Leakey

Kenyan anthropologist, government official, and paleontologist

Louis S.B. Leakey

Louis Leakey

Kenyan archaeologist and anthropologist

Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters

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Mute swan with cygnet. (birds)

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Lion (panthera leo)

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The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is seen in Switzerland on December 2024

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