Homo Species Cluster

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A Homo Species Cluster is a hominini species cluster whose ancestors are all descended from an original Homo species that lived around 2.5 to 3 million years ago (MYA).

  • Context:
    • It can (often) describe species that exhibit advanced cognitive functions, tool-making capabilities, and bipedal locomotion.
    • It can have 46 chromosomes in humans (Homo sapiens) and other species with slight variations.
    • It can represent social structures, culture, and survival strategies.
    • ...
  • Example(s):
    • Homo sapiens, the only extant species within the *Homo* Genus, is known for advanced technology, culture, and social organization, having emerged around 300,000 years ago.
    • Homo naledi, a species discovered in South Africa, lived around 335,000 to 236,000 years ago and shows evidence of complex behavior despite its small brain size.
    • Homo floresiensis, nicknamed the "Hobbit," lived on the island of Flores and became extinct around 50,000 years ago, standing only about 3.5 feet tall.
    • Homo heidelbergensis, an ancestor to both Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis, lived around 600,000 to 200,000 years ago and is thought to have used advanced tools.
    • Homo habilis, one of the earliest members of the genus, lived around 2.3 to 1.65 million years ago and is known for using simple stone tools.
    • Homo erectus, which lived around 1.9 million to 110,000 years ago, was the first hominin to migrate out of Africa and use fire for survival.
    • Homo neanderthalensis, which lived in Europe and Western Asia until about 40,000 years ago, adapted to cold environments and exhibited complex behaviors like burial rituals.
    • ...
  • Counter-Example(s):
    • The Australopithecus Genus is not part of the *Homo* genus, though it includes earlier ancestors of humans, such as Australopithecus afarensis.
    • The Pan Genus, which includes chimpanzees and bonobos, is the closest living relative to the *Homo* genus but belongs to a separate evolutionary lineage.
  • See: Human Evolution, Tool Use, Speciation Event, Genus, Bipedalism.

References

2024

  • LLM
Time Period (Years Ago) Homo habilis Homo rudolfensis Homo naledi Homo erectus Homo heidelbergensis Homo neanderthalensis Homo floresiensis Homo sapiens sapiens
1. 2.5 million Emerges in Africa; first known toolmaker using Oldowan tools. Emerges in Africa; shares many features with Homo habilis. N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
2. 2 million Thriving in Africa; increased brain size and tool use. Thriving in Africa; early evidence of tool use and scavenging. N/A Emerges in Africa; first to leave Africa and use Acheulean tools. N/A N/A N/A N/A
3. 1.8 million Population declines, eventually becomes extinct. Nearing extinction. N/A Expands across Africa and into Asia; control of fire begins. Emerges in Africa; bridges gap to later hominins. N/A N/A N/A
4. 1.5 million Extinct. Extinct. N/A Continues to thrive in Africa and Asia; Acheulean tools widespread. Expands into Europe and Asia. N/A N/A N/A
5. 1 million Extinct. Extinct. N/A Expands into Europe and Southeast Asia; increased tool sophistication. Thriving in Europe and Africa. N/A N/A N/A
6. 500,000 Extinct. Extinct. Emerges in South Africa; complex burial-like behavior. Continuing presence in Africa and Asia; control of fire and shelter-building. Fully established in Europe and Africa; advanced tool use. Emerges from Homo heidelbergensis; early cold adaptation. N/A N/A
7. 400,000 Extinct. Extinct. Thriving in South Africa; small-brained but shows advanced behaviors. Population declining, nearing extinction. Thriving in Europe and Asia; eventually giving rise to Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens. Fully adapted to Ice Age Europe. N/A N/A
8. 300,000 Extinct. Extinct. Still present in South Africa; burial-like practices continue. Last populations persist in Southeast Asia. Becoming less prominent; transitions into Homo sapiens. Thriving in Ice Age Europe; complex hunting techniques. Emerges in Indonesia; unique features. Homo sapiens sapiens emerges in Africa.
9. 200,000 Extinct. Extinct. Extinct. Extinct. Extinct. Expands across Europe and Asia; symbolic burials. Thriving in Indonesia. Expanding within Africa; early symbolic thought.
10. 100,000 Extinct. Extinct. Extinct. Extinct. Extinct. Engaging in symbolic behavior; pigment use. Disappears from fossil record. Homo sapiens expanding in Africa; symbolic art.
11. 40,000 Extinct. Extinct. Extinct. Extinct. Extinct. Near extinction due to competition with Homo sapiens. Extinct by this time. Expansion into Europe and Asia.
12. 30,000 Extinct. Extinct. Extinct. Extinct. Extinct. Extinct. Extinct. Continued global expansion.

2024

  • (Wikipedia, 2024) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo Retrieved:2024-9-15.
    • Homo, together with the genus Paranthropus, is probably most closely related to the species Australopithecus africanus within Australopithecus. The closest living relatives of Homo are of the genus Pan (which includes chimpanzees and bonobos), with the ancestors of Pan and Homo estimated to have diverged around 5.7-11 million years ago during the Late Miocene. Homo erectus appeared about 2 million years ago and spread throughout Africa (where it is called Homo ergaster) and Eurasia in several migrations. Being an adaptive and successful species, it persisted for more than a million years and gradually diverged into new species by around 500,000 years ago. Anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) emerged close to 300,000 to 200,000 years ago, in Africa, and H. neanderthalensis emerged around the same time in Europe and Western Asia. H. sapiens dispersed from Africa in several waves, from possibly as early as 250,000 years ago, and certainly by 130,000 years ago, with the so-called Southern Dispersal beginning about 70–50,000 years ago See: * * leading to the lasting colonisation of Eurasia and Oceania by 50,000 years ago. H. sapiens met and interbred with archaic humans in Africa and in Eurasia. This study raises the possibility of observed genetic affinities between archaic and modern human populations being mostly due to common ancestral polymorphisms. Separate archaic (non-sapiens) human species including Neanderthals are thought to have survived until around 40,000 years ago.
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