From Ape-like creatures to our closest relatives, here 10 of the most mysterious extinct human
species….
10.
Homo Heidelbergensis
The Homo Heidelbergensis lived in Europe and possibly Asia around 700,000 to 200,000 years
ago.
It was an early species of human that had a very large brow-ridge, and a distinctly
larger braincase and a flatter face than those that came before them.
This was the first early human that lived in colder climates.
It is believed they were able to do so because of their shorter, wider bodies that helped
to conserve heat.
They were the first species that we know of that built shelters from wood and rocks, were
adept at using fire, and routinely hunted large animals with wooden spears.
Workmen in Heidelberg in Germany first discovered them in 1908, which is where they got their
name.
Despite knowing a few details about how they lived based upon further discoveries that
have been made, there’s still a lot that we don’t know.
For example, is this just one species or the combination of a few unknown ones?
Where does Homo Heidelbergensis fit in with our own evolutionary path?
And, were there any other adaptations that made this species of human more suited to
colder climates than their predecessors?
9.
Homo Rudolfensis
The Homo Rudolfensis lived in Eastern Africa between 1.9 million and 1.7 million years
ago.
It was a very early species of human, and evidence of them is so rare that there’s
only one example of a good fossil that was found in Kenya in 1986.
The feature that makes the Homo Rudolfensis different is the size of the brain casing.
In the example that has been found, it measures at 775 cubic centimeters, which is much larger
than has been found in any specimens of earlier species, and signifies a much larger and capable
brain.
It also had a longer face and larger molar and premolar teeth that show its links to
more recent types of human.
Because the fossil of Homo Rudolfensis comes from so long ago, we know very little about
this species- we don’t even know if it comes from the same lineage as we do, or whether
it was one that eventually died out through competition with more capable species.
We also don’t know how large they grew, or even what differences, if any, that there
were between the males and females.
8.
Homo Habilis
Homo Habilis lived in Eastern and Southern Africa between 2.3 million and 1.4 million
years ago, which makes them one of the longest surviving species of any of our ancestors.
They are one of the earliest “Homo” species, and thought to be one of the first steps of
evolution to what we are today.
They had a larger brain case and smaller face and teeth than their predecessors, but still
showed ape-like features such as longer arms and legs.
They weighed about 70 pounds and would grow to be up to 5 feet tall.
The first confirmed fossil of Homo Habilis was discovered in 1960.
The name Habilis means “Handy Man” in reference to the fact these are thought to
be the first ones to use stone tools.
Of course they lived an extremely long time ago so there’s a lot about them that we
don’t know yet.
Questions that researchers are dying to answer include; are they a direct ancestor of today’s
humans?
Are they related to, or the same species as Homo Rudolfensis?
And, how did they survive the variable conditions on earth that we know went on at that time?
7.
Homo Floresiensis
The Homo Floresiensis, often called the Hobbit, lived in Indonesia between 100,000 and 50,000
years ago.
This is one of the most recently discovered species, having been found in 2003, and so
far finds have been limited to the island of Flores.
This was a very small species, a trait that is thought to have occurred because of island
dwarfism where the limited resources available to creatures that are isolated on islands
causes different evolutionary effects.
They were only about 3 foot 6 inches tall, had very small brains, no chins, receding
foreheads and very large feet.
These estimates are based on a female skeleton that was found, that also suggests they could
weigh up to 66 pounds.
The discovery of this species has raised more questions than it has answered for researchers.
For example, stone tools that were found on the island date back over a million years,
so who made them if Homo Floresiensis only arrived 100,000 years ago?
How did they live, and why did they die out?
And, most interestingly in regards to our own species, did they ever come into contact
with our own predecessors?
6.
Homo Erectus
The Homo Erectus lived across Africa and Asia between about 1.9 million and 143,000 years
ago, and were the longest surviving species of human.
They are the oldest known species that exhibited features seen in us today- the proportion
of the torso to arms and legs were similar to ours, they had an expanded brain case,
they were good at using tools like handaxes, and there’s even evidence to suggest they
took care of the sick and elderly.
These adaptations show that this species lived on the ground, and were able to walk upright
and even run.
Fossils of this species have been found across the globe in several African countries, China,
Indonesia and Spain.
They were suited to a wide range of climates, were much taller than the rest (up to 6 feet),
heavier at up to 150 pounds, and had large brain cavities that suggest a big improvement
in intelligence.
This species is often thought to be a direct ancestor to our own, but further evidence
is still needed to determine this for sure.
It’s also unknown how their societal structure worked, how prolific their use of fire was,
and whether they grew in a similar way to us with adolescent growth spurts, or like
apes who grow steadily.
5.
Homo Neanderthalensis
Homo Neanderthalensis lived around Europe and the Middle East between 400,000 and 40,000
years ago.
They are our closest extinct human relatives, and co-existed with modern humans for a long
time before finally dying out.
While known to us as being unintelligent cave dwellers, this species were actually capable
of intelligent thought and were able to adapt to some of the harshest environments.
They were shorter and stockier than us, and had a large middle part of their face, angled
cheekbones, and a really big nose that helped to regulate the air temperature and humidity
as they breathed.
Neanderthalensis fashioned tools from wood and stone, used fire for a variety of purposes,
built shelters for themselves and even wore clothes.
They hunted large animals for food, ate plants, and were even known to make ornamental objects.
Some discoveries have also suggested that they buried their dead in graves, which is
a behavior not seen in any previous species of human.
We are closely related to Homo Neanderthalensis, but not directly descended from them- although
there are some traces of their DNA within ours, which suggests there were occasions
when our ancestors intermingled.
While we know far more about them than other species, there is still a lot to learn about
them such as why they eventually died out.
What did they eat?
They had musical instruments and drew on caves.
Was there more to their apparent use of symbolism?
What did they think about?
4.
Homo Georgicus
The only example of Homo Georgicus that has ever been discovered was during an archaeological
dig in Georgia, and it is a matter of dispute whether this is actually a species in its
own right or simply an oddly shaped skull of another one.
The first pieces of the skull were found in 2000, but it took the next decade to find
the remaining pieces to build a picture of what this species represented if, it was actually
a new discovery.
The answer was a re-think of the spread of human species around the world.
This 1.8 million-year-old fossil was found next to a series of advanced tools that suggests
they hunted large prey like sabre-toothed tigers.
The skull itself has a tiny brain cavity, about a third of the size of our own, it has
protruding brows, jutting jaws, and characteristics similar to other species that have been found
from a similar time period.
The remarkable thing about this species is that, when placed alongside other fossils
that have been found in the area, they are clearly very different.
So different, in fact, that researchers have been forced to re-consider the traditionally
accepted understanding of species variation.
Instead of there being a large number of separate species, this find would imply that a lot
of them were actually the same, but able to exhibit different characteristics depending
on where they lived.
Further examples will need to be found to reach any definitive conclusions about these
questions, but we could soon find that our whole understanding of human evolution needs
to be re-written.
3.
Homo Ergaster
Homo Ergaster is thought to have been one of the first species of human that started
to resemble what we are today.
They were tall and slender, and pretty hairless in comparison to the apes they had descended
from.
They lived around Eurasia and Africa between about 2 million and 1 million years ago, and
are the subject of varying theories with researchers.
Some believe that they are, in fact, Homo Erectus, others believe that they are a species
in their own right that are the ancestors of two further species- Homo erectus, and
our own, Homo Sapiens.
They had long legs, a flatter nose and larger brain than previous species, and are thought
to have grown up to six feet tall.
Little is known about how this species lived, but we do know that they used large stone
tools and used fire.
Although it’s not known if this was in a controlled way or merely opportunistic.
2.
Homo Antecessor
The Homo Antecessor is a little understood species, but is thought by some to be the
direct ancestor of both Homo Neanderthalensis and Homo Sapiens.
They are believed to have lived in Europe and Africa between about 1.2 million and 800,000
years ago, with fossil fragments having been found in a cave in the Atapuerca Mountains
of Spain, and an English Archeological site called Happisburgh.
The fossils from Spain are the oldest ones that have been found anywhere in Europe.
Their teeth were similar to those of Homo Erectus, but their faces were noticeably different
with features of more modern species such as a flattened nasal region and a facial depression
above the canine tooth called the canine fossa.
This unusual mixture of modern and primitive traits led to the new species classification,
but it has proved to be a contentious decision, with many anthropologists disagreeing.
The main reason for this is that the fossils found could well be the remains of children
who, rather than exhibiting these different features, simply needed time to grow up before
looking more like an already established species.
Nonetheless, there’s still a lot to learn about Homo Antecessor, whether they actually
existed, and where exactly they lived when their fossils have only been found in such
specific areas.
1.
Ardipithecus Ramidus
The fossil record shows that humans are closely related to apes, and the Ardipithecus Ramidus
is one of the earliest known species that shows the separation happening.
They lived in Eastern Africa about 4.4 million years ago, and the first fossils were found
in 1994.
From the skeletal structure it seems as if they had a large toe and rigid foot, which
could have enabled them to walk upright, and the pelvis shows adaptations suitable for
walking and climbing trees.
Researchers say “Ardi” is a human-African ape common ancestor that was not chimpanzee
like.
There were also hardly any differences between the males and females of this species.
Of course, these early humans lived so long ago that it’s difficult to find any in-tact
fossils- even though over 110 specimens have been found in Ethiopia- so it’s tough to
determine exactly what role they played in our early development.
With analytical tools being continually improved, the discovery of better specimens may once
and for all settle the debate of when our species first separated from the line of apes
into the Homo Sapiens that we are today.
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