Human Origins

For decades, Homo habilis has been treated as the “starter” version of our genus - more humanlike skull and teeth, plus the stone tools often found in the same broad time range. But a newly described partial skeleton is now pushing back hard on the idea that early Homo would have looked recognizably human from the neck down. The fossil assemblage, found at Koobi Fora on the eastern side of Lake Turkana in Kenya, includes around 100 bones from the upper body and parts of the pelvis, associated with a near-complete lower jaw and teeth. Together, they make up the most complete H. habilis skeleton yet described, known as KNM-ER 64061, reports Science. What has emerged in the recent study