Difference between revisions of "Homo (genus)" - New World Encyclopedia
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Homo sapiens sapiens |
Homo is the genus that includes modern humans and their close relatives. The genus is estimated to be between 1.5 and 2.5 million years old. All species except Homo sapiens (modern humans) are extinct. Homo neanderthalensis, traditionally considered the last surviving relative, died out 30,000 years ago while recent evidence suggests that Homo floresiensis lived as recently as 12,000 years ago.
Note:In modern taxonomy, Homo sapiens is the only extant (living) species of its genus, Homo. However, the ongoing study of the origins of Homo sapiens often demonstrates that there were other Homo species, all of which are now extinct. While some of these other species might have been ancestors of H. sapiens, many were likely our "cousins," having speciated away from our ancestral line. There is not yet a consensus as to which of these groups should count as separate species and which as subspecies of another species. In some cases, this is due to the paucity of fossils; in other cases, it is due to the slight differences used to classify species in the Homo genus.
The word homo is Latin for "person," chosen originally by Carolus Linnaeus in his classification system. It is often translated as "man," although this can lead to confusion, given that the English word "man" can be generic like homo, but can also specifically refer to males. Latin for "man" in the gender-specific sense is vir, cognate with "virile" and "werewolf". The word "human" is from humanus, the adjectival form of homo.
The word homo is Latin for "man", in the original sense of "human being", or "person". The word "human" itself is from Latin humanus, an adjective cognate to homo, both derived from PIE dhǵhem- "earth"[1].
A minority of zoologists consider that the two species of chimpanzees (usually treated in the genus Pan), and maybe the gorillas (usually treated in the genus Gorilla) should also be included in the genus based on genetic similarities. Most scientists argue that chimpanzees and gorillas have too many anatomical differences between themselves and humans to be part of Homo. The genus Homo is most closely related to Kenyanthropus platyops, which is likely to be an ancestral species. Through that species, Homo is next most closely related to the group of extinct species in the genera Paranthropus and Australopithecus, whose evolutionary branch split off from the proto-Homo line some 5 million years ago.
Species
- †Homo habilis (Handy Man)
- †Homo rudolfensis (Rudolf Man)
- †Homo ergaster (Working Man)
- †Homo erectus (Upright Man)
- †Homo floresiensis (Flores Man — discovered 2003)
- †Homo antecessor (Predecessor Man)
- †Homo heidelbergensis (Heidelberg Man)
- †Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthal Man)
- †Homo rhodesiensis (Rhodesia Man)
- †Homo cepranensis (Ceprano Man)
- †Homo georgicus (Georgia Man)
- Homo sapiens
- †Homo sapiens idaltu (elderly wise man — discovered 1997)
- Homo sapiens sapiens (Wise Man; modern humans)
H. heidelbergensis and H. neanderthalensis are closely related to each other and have been considered to be subspecies of H. sapiens, but analysis of mitochondrial DNA from Homo neanderthalensis fossils shows that H. neanderthalensis is more closely related to chimpanzees than H. sapiens is, thereby suggesting that H. sapiens is the more derived of the two.[1] H. rhodesiensis and H. cepranensis are also more closely related to each other than to the other species.
Template:Homo
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Serre et al. (2004). No evidence of Neandertal mtDNA contribution to early modern humans. PLoS Biology 2 (3): 313–7. PMID 15024415.
External links
- Hominid species
- For more details, including photos of fossil hominids + modern apes' skulls
- Mikko's Phylogeny archive
Sahelanthropus tchadensis • Orrorin tugenensis • Ardipithecus
Australopithecus: A. anamensis • A. afarensis • A. bahrelghazali • A. africanus • A. garhi
Paranthropus: P. aethiopicus • P. boisei • P. robustus
Kenyanthropus platyops
Homo: H. habilis • H. rudolfensis • H. georgicus • H. ergaster • H. erectus (H. e. lantianensis • H. e. palaeojavanicus • H. e. pekinensis • H. e. soloensis) • H. cepranensis • H. antecessor • H. heidelbergensis • H. neanderthalensis • H. rhodesiensis • H. floresiensis • Homo sapiens (H. s. idaltu • H. s. sapiens)
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