Homo is the
genus that includes
modern humans and their close relatives. The genus is estimated to be about 2.5 million years old, evolving from
Australopithecine ancestors with the appearance of
Homo habilis. Appearance of
Homo coincides with the first evidence of
stone tools (the
Oldowan industry), and thus by definition with the beginning of the
Lower Paleolithic.
All species except
Homo sapiens (modern humans) are extinct.
Homo neanderthalensis, traditionally considered the last surviving relative, died out 24,000 years ago, while a recent discovery suggests that another species,
Homo floresiensis, may have lived as recently as 12,000 years ago.
Given the large number of morphological similarities exhibited,
Homo is closely related to several extinct hominin genera, most notably
Kenyanthropus,
Paranthropus,
Ardipithecus and
Australopithecus. , none of these
taxa are universally accepted as the confirmed direct ancestor of
Homo.
Naming
The word
homo is
Latin, in the original sense of "human being", or "person". The word "
human" itself is from Latin
humanus, an adjective cognate to
homo, both thought to derive from
a Proto-Indo-European word reconstructed as
"earth". Cf. Hebrew
adam, meaning "human", cognate to
adamah, meaning "ground". (And cf. Latin
humus, meaning "soil"; and Slavic земля meaning "land, earth"; and Sanskrit
Bhumi meaning "Earth".)
Species
Species status of
Homo rudolfensis,
H. ergaster,
H. georgicus,
H. antecessor,
H. cepranensis,
H. rhodesiensis and
H. floresiensis remains under debate.
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 genetically closer to chimpanzees than
H. sapiens is, thereby suggesting that
H. sapiens is the more derived of the two.
See also
