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Homo ergaster - What's in a name?


By Eugene M. McCarthy, Ph.D.

Homo ergaster
Homo ergaster
(click to enlarge) Credit: Luna04
Fossil material assigned to this hominid ranges from about 1.4 to 1.9 million years in age and was unearthed in eastern and southern Africa. This early human was first described by Groves and Mazak (1975).

As a category, Homo ergaster (which means "working man" -- referring to the use of tools) is problematic, in particular as different individual paleoanthropologists accepting it as valid do not agree on which fossils should be assigned to it. The younger specimens assigned to this category are usually found associated with Acheulean tools.

Researchers who assert the validity of Homo ergaster usually suggest it was a form more similar to modern humans than was Homo erectus. However, many experts are now inclined to believe fossils attributed to ergaster really belong either to Homo habilis or Homo erectus, primarily the latter (ergaster fossils date to a period when habilis and erectus overlapped in time -- see human evolution timeline).

Human Evolution Chart >>
Human Evolution Timeline >>
Biology Dictionary >>

Interesting facts and information
about other members of genus Homo:
Homo habilis >>
Homo rudolfensis >>
Homo erectus >>
Homo cepranensis >>
Homo neanderthalensis >>
Homo heidelbergensis >>
Homo georgicus>>
Homo floresiensis >>
Homo rhodesiensis>>
Articles about other ancient hominids:
Ardipithecus ramidus >>
Australopithecus afarensis >>
Australopithecus africanus >>
Australopithecus anamensis >>
Australopithecus bahrelghazali >>
Australopithecus garhi >>
Sahelanthropus tchadensis >>
Orrorin tugenensis >>
Kenyanthropus platyops >>
Paranthropus aethiopicus >>
Paranthropus boisei >>
Paranthropus robustus >>





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