HOMO RUDOLFENSIS: ANTIQUITY, CHARACTERISTICS, DIET - HISTORY - 2025

The Homo rudolfensis was a hominid who lived in parts of Africa during the Early Pleistocene. It belongs to the genus Homo, that of the ancestors of man, although there is much controversy about its cataloging.

When the first fossils were found, paleontologists thought they belonged to the Homo habilis species. Later, morphological differences led many experts to the conclusion that it was a new type of hominid.

Source: By Daderot, from Wikimedia Commons

However, differences of opinion on the matter continue. Until today, a group of scholars considers that it is not a Homo, but an Australopithecus, although it is not the majority position.

Homo rudolfensis coexisted with other species such as Homo Habilis or Paranthropus boisei. This has meant that his study is not easy, especially with regard to the diet and the tools he used. On many occasions, the sites are confusing as to what species inhabited them.

Antiquity

Homo rudolfensis was discovered in 1972, on the shores of the African lake of Turkana. The find was made by Bernard Ngeneo, a member of Richard Leakey's team.

The first dating of the remains found showed that it was 1.9 million years old. This caused it to be listed as a member of the Homo habilis species, which had inhabited the same area at that time.

Later, as early as 1986, morphological differences led to the conclusion that the initial cataloging had been wrong and that it was a new species. Valerii P. Alexeev baptized it, first, as Pithecanthropus rudolfensis, although later he included it within the genus Homo.

The controversy, however, has not yet been closed. Despite the emergence of several sites, scientists have not yet closed the discussion on the evolutionary position of Homo rudolfensis.

Dating of the species

Analysis of the remains shows that Homo rudolfensis lived between 1.95 and 1.78 million years ago. Therefore, it coincided in the same area with at least two other species of Homo, H. habilis and H. ergaster.

Apart from these, during that period of time there were also other hominids, such as Australopithecus sediba from South Africa and Homo georgicus that already lived in Asia.

Some experts consider that H. rudolfensis is a direct ancestor of Homo erectus. However, this could not be scientifically proven, since the evidence found does not allow to affirm it categorically.

General characteristics

As previously noted, there is still a group of paleontologists who doubt whether Homo rudolfensis is a separate species or is within that of H. habilis.

Morphological differences are one of the reasons that lead most specialists to affirm that it was a different species.

Anatomy

The morphology of H. rudolfensis was quite different from that of H. habilis. The most prominent are found in the skull, although there were also in other parts of the body.

The supraorbital and malar region were very long and deep. Likewise, it had a marked forward lean. Both characteristics differentiate the remains found from those of H. habilis.

On the other hand, it is estimated that its cranial volume was about 750 cubic centimeters, although a scientist from the University of New York has marked it at 526 cc.

Another characteristic of H. rudolfensis, shared in this case by H. habilis, was its great sexual dimorphism. This indicates that there was a great difference in size between males and females, much higher than that presented by current great apes.

Likewise, the face was flat and the post-canines (teeth) were broad and with complex roots. The enamel was likewise thicker than that of H. habilis.

Finally, and according to some of the latest findings, the palate of this hominid was U-shaped. The canines were located facing the front of the jaw and not to the sides of the palate, as was the case with other contemporary hominids.

Relations

One of the most common discrepancies about H. rudolfensis is its origin. When the remains of Kenyanthropus platyops were discovered in 1999, much of the scientific community thought that this was the direct ancestor of H. rudolfensis. However, there are other theories that do not share that belief.

As for the descendants of H. rudolfensis, the strongest hypotheses suggest that it evolved into H. ergaster. Other experts, however, affirm that both species coexisted, but without a phylogenetic relationship.

Habitat and behavior

As noted above, this species of hominin inhabited exclusively in eastern Africa. In fact, its small area of ​​dispersion makes paleoanthropologists speak of an endemism.

In the same area where Homo rudolfensis inhabited, several species of hominids also appeared that, at that time, inhabited the planet. Specifically, the species shared habitat with Homo ergaster, Homo habilis, and Paranthropus Boisei. According to experts, his greatest rivalry was with habilis.

H. rudolfensis was one of the first species to build tools to hunt animals. The incorporation of meat into the diet was one of the causes of the increase in intelligence of all Homos of that prehistoric period.

According to the studies carried out, Homo rudolfensis was a social hominid. The social structure maintained a very marked hierarchy, with a dominant male. However, it seems that leadership was based more on ability to survive than strength, unlike previous species.

Another important feature was the frequent premature birth of children, due to the shape of the female birth canal. This meant that the Rudolfensis had to spend a lot of time caring for their young, which ended up forming tribal and social ties.

Feeding

One of the problems when determining specific aspects of the behavior of H. rudolfensis is that the remains appear among those of species such as habilis. This happens, for example, when establishing your eating patterns.

Once the differences in the structure of the jaw with respect to habilis have been studied, it seems clear that there were differences in feeding. However, experts have not established what exactly they are.

If it is known that they ate plants that they found in their environment. There is also agreement that the meat intake was large, the majority obtained from the remains of dead animals, from carrion.

Almost all paleoanthropologists agree that, along with habilis, it was one of the species that began to incorporate large amounts of meat into its diet.

It also appears that H. rudolfensis used some stone tools to hunt and slice food. However, it is very difficult to establish which remains belonged to this spice and which were used by others.

References

1. Prehistoric Wiki. Homo rudolfensis. Retrieved from es.prehistorico.wikia.com
2. Paleoanthropology. The prehuman species. Obtained from canaldeciencias.com
3. Trends 21. Three different species of Homo coexisted two million years ago. Obtained from trends21.net
4. Australian Museum. Homo rudolfensis. Retrieved from australianmuseum.net.au
5. Bradshaw Foundation. Homo rudolfensis. Retrieved from bradshawfoundation.com
6. Smithsonian Institution. Homo rudolfensis. Retrieved from humanorigins.si.edu
7. Helm Welker, Barbara. Homo rudolfensis. Retrieved from milnepublishing.geneseo.edu
8. RationalWiki. Homo rudolfensis. Retrieved from rationalwiki.org