Principles of Human Evolution by Robert Andrew Foley

Author:Robert Andrew Foley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2013-04-22T16:00:00+00:00

THE GENUS HOMO

The first discoveries

The first discoveries of early Homo fossils were made at Olduvai Gorge, not long after Mary Leakey had found Zinj (now Australopithecus boisei) and Louis Leakey pronounced it to be the maker of the gorge’s stone tools. Between 1960 and 1963, a series of fossils was uncovered close to the Zinj site, including hand and foot bones, a lower jaw, and parts of the top of a cranium. The fossils, which were judged to be slightly older than Zinj (therefore older than 1.75 million years), were less robust than Zinj; in addition, the teeth were smaller and the brain was calculated to be significantly larger, with a volume estimated at 640 cm3. Displaying uncharacteristic caution, Louis Leakey initially referred to the fossils simply as “pre-Zinj,” but he quickly became convinced that this creature, not Zinj, was the tool maker, and the ancestor of modern humans.

KEY QUESTION What is the pattern of diversity among early members of the genus Homo?

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