HOMINIDS

Now we'll talk about hominids, one of the subjects that we studied in class.
The most important hominids are: the Homo Habilis, the Homo Erectus, the Homo Neanderthalensis and the Homo Sapiens (actual).

- THE HOMO HABILIS:

It lived approximately since 2'5 million years ago to 1'4 million years ago. Homo habilis is the first species of the homo genus to appear. It was the least similar to modern humans of all species of this genus. Homo habilis had a cranial capacity slightly less than half of the size of modern humans. Some fossils were found in Tanzania (Afric).

- HOMO ERECTUS:

It appeared 1'3 million years ago. its craneal capacity is larger than the Homo habilis one and the teeth are smaller These early hominines were tall, on average standing about 1.79 m and much stronger than modern humans. The brain size was expanding with time.
Some of the most important fossils were found in India, Tanzania, Indonesia, China and Kenia.

- HOMO NEANDERTHALENSIS:

It appeared in Europe about 500 thousand years ago and by 50,000 years ago, Neanderthalensis disappeared from Asia. Their cranial capacity was larger than modern humans, indicating that their brains may have been larger. This hominid may have live with Homo Sapiens up to 15,000 years after they had migrated into Europe.

Important fossils were found in China.

- HOMO SAPIENS:

It's the only one survival of the Homo genus. Compared to other species, humans have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection, and emotional suffering.

This mental capability, combined with an erect body that frees the arms for manipulating objects, has allowed humans to make a greater use of tools than any other species. Modern humans originated in Africa about 200,000 years ago. The human population on Earth now is estimated in 6.6 billion people.