Fossil Hominids: OH 65

OH 65, Homo habilis

Discovered in 1995 at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. OH 65 consisted of an upper jaw with all of its teeth and part of the lower face. Estimated age is 1.8 million years. Because of its similarity with the fossil OH 7, the type specimen of Homo habilis, it is attributed to that species. Because it also seems similar to ER 1470, which is often now attributed to H. rudolfensis, the finders of OH 65 have suggested that 1470 may also belong to habilis, casting doubt on rudolfensis as a valid species. Additionally they suggest, based on anatomical differences, that some smaller habiline specimens often attributed to habilis (OH 13, OH 24, OH 62 and ER 1813) may not belong to that species (without saying to which species these specimens should be attributed). (Blumenschine et al. 2003, Tobias 2003)

References

Blumenschine R.J., Peters C.R., Masao F.T., Clarke R.J., Deino A., Hay R.L. et al. (2003): Late Pliocene Homo and hominid land use from western Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Science, 299:1217-21. (discovery of OH 65)

Tobias P.V. (2003): Encore Olduvai. Science, 299:1193-4. (commentary on OH 65)

Links

Humankind's family tree reshaped, by Laura Kennedy (MSNBC)

1.8 Million-Year-Old Hominid Jaw Found, by John Roach (National Geographic News)

This page is part of the Fossil Hominids FAQ at the talk.origins Archive.