Editing Homo habilis (section)

===Classification===
{{cladogram|align=left|caption=''[[Homo]]'' family tree showing ''H. habilis'' and ''H. rudolfensis'' at the base as offshoots of the human line<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Strait |first1=D. |title=Handbook of Paleoanthropology |last2=Grine |first2=F. |last3=Fleagle |first3=J. G. |author3-link=John G. Fleagle |publisher=Springer |year=2015 |isbn=978-3-642-39979-4 |editor-last=Henke |editor-first=W. |edition=2nd |chapter=Analyzing Hominin Phylogeny: Cladistic Approach |page=2006 |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-39979-4_58 |editor-last2=Tattersall |editor-first2=I. |editor2-link=Ian Tattersall |chapter-url=http://www.academia.edu/download/55535112/Homo_ergaster_Handbook_2_2015.pdf |access-date=2020-06-12 |archive-date=2020-06-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612125818/http://www.academia.edu/download/55535112/Homo_ergaster_Handbook_2_2015.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>|cladogram={{clade|style=font-size:85%;line-height:75%;width:300px;
|1={{clade
 |1={{clade
  |1='''''H. habilis'''''
  |2=''[[H. rudolfensis]]''
  }}
 |2={{clade
  |1=''[[H. ergaster]]''
  |2={{clade
   |1=''[[H. erectus]]''
   |2={{clade
    |1=''[[H. antecessor]]''
    |2={{clade
     |1={{clade
      |1=''[[H. heidelbergensis]]''
      |2=''[[H. neanderthalensis]]''
      }}
     |2=''[[H. sapiens]]''
    }}
   }}
  }}
 }}
}}
}}}}

There is still no wide consensus as to whether or not ''H. habilis'' is ancestral to ''[[H. ergaster]]''&nbsp;/&nbsp;''H. erectus'' or is an offshoot of the human line,<ref>{{cite journal|first=I.|last=Tattersall|author-link=Ian Tattersall|year=2019|title=Classification and phylogeny in human evolution|journal=Ludus Vitalis|volume=9|issue=15|pages=139–140|url=http://www.ludus-vitalis.org/ojs/index.php/ludus/article/view/617|access-date=2020-06-10|archive-date=2021-04-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415102615/http://www.ludus-vitalis.org/ojs/index.php/ludus/article/view/617|url-status=dead}}</ref> and whether or not all specimens assigned to ''H. habilis'' are correctly assigned or the species is an assemblage of different ''Australopithecus'' and ''Homo'' species.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Tattersall|first1=I.|author1-link=Ian Tattersall|last2=Schwartz|first2=J. H.|author2-link=Jeffrey H. Schwartz|title=Extinct Humans|publisher=Basic Books|year=2001|page=111|isbn=978-0-8133-3918-4}}</ref> Studies of the dental morphology of ''H. habilis'' have suggested that it shares greater similarity with ''Australopithecus'' than with later ''Homo'' species.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Davies |first=Thomas W. |last2=Gunz |first2=Philipp |last3=Spoor |first3=Fred |last4=Alemseged |first4=Zeresenay |last5=Gidna |first5=Agness |last6=Hublin |first6=Jean-Jacques |last7=Kimbel |first7=William H. |last8=Kullmer |first8=Ottmar |last9=Plummer |first9=William P. |last10=Zanolli |first10=Clément |last11=Skinner |first11=Matthew M. |date=4 January 2024 |title=Dental morphology in Homo habilis and its implications for the evolution of early Homo |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-44375-9?fromPaywallRec=false |journal=[[Nature Communications]] |language=en |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=286 |doi=10.1038/s41467-023-44375-9 |issn=2041-1723 |access-date=20 November 2024|pmc=10767101 }}</ref> Nonetheless, ''H. habilis'' and ''H. rudolfensis'' generally are recognised members of the genus at the base of the family tree, with arguments for synonymisation or removal from the genus not widely adopted.<ref>{{cite book|first1=D.|last1=Strait|first2=F. E.|last2=Grine|first3=J. G.|last3=Fleagle|year=2014|chapter=Analyzing Hominin Phylogeny: Cladistic Approach|title=Handbook of Paleoanthropology|edition=2nd|publisher=Springer|pages=2005–2006|isbn=978-3-642-39979-4}}</ref>

Though it is now largely agreed upon that ''Homo'' evolved from ''Australopithecus'', the timing and placement of this split has been much debated, with many ''Australopithecus'' species having been proposed as the ancestor. The discovery of [[LD 350-1]], the oldest ''Homo'' specimen, dating to 2.8 mya, in the [[Afar Region]] of Ethiopia may indicate that the genus evolved from ''[[A. afarensis]]'' around this time. This specimen was initially classified as ''Homo'' sp.,<ref>{{cite journal|first1=B.|last1=Villmoare|first2=W. H.|last2=Kimbel|first3=C.|last3=Seyoum|display-authors=et al.|year=2015|title=Early ''Homo'' at 2.8 Ma from Ledi-Geraru, Afar, Ethiopia|journal=Science|volume=347|issue=6228|pages=1352–1355|doi=10.1126/science.aaa1343|pmid=25739410|bibcode=2015Sci...347.1352V|doi-access=free}}</ref> though subsequent studies have suggested that it also shares characteristics with ''Australopithecus'' and that it is clearly distinct from ''H. habilis''.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Hawks, J.|author2=De Ruiter, D.J.|author3=Berger, L.R.|year=2015|title=Comment on “Early Homo at 2.8 Ma from Ledi-Geraru, Afar, Ethiopia”|journal=Science|volume=348|issue=6241|pages=1326|doi=10.1126/science.aab0591}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Neves, W.|author2=Senger, M.H.|author3=Rocha, G.|author4=Suesdek, L.|author5=Hubbe, M.|year=2024|title=Ledi-Geraru strikes again: Morphological affinities of the LD 350-1 mandible with early ''Homo''|journal=Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências|volume=95|issue=1|doi=10.1590/0001-3765202320230032|doi-access=free}}</ref> The oldest ''H. habilis'' specimen, A.L. 666-1, dates to 2.3 mya, but is anatomically more [[Apomorphy and synapomorphy|derived]] (has less ancestral, or basal, traits) than the younger OH 7, suggesting derived and basal morphs lived concurrently, and that the ''H. habilis'' lineage began before 2.3 mya.<ref name=Spoor2015/> Based on 2.1-million-year-old stone tools from [[Shangchen]], China, ''H. habilis'' or an ancestral species may have dispersed across Asia.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhu |first1=Z. |last2=Dennell |first2=R. |last3=Huang |first3=W. |last4=Wu |first4=Y. |last5=Qiu |first5=S. |last6=Yang |first6=S. |last7=Rao |first7=Z. |last8=Hou |first8=Y. |last9=Xie |first9=J. |last10=Han |first10=J. |last11=Ouyang |first11=T. |year=2018 |title=Hominin occupation of the Chinese Loess Plateau since about 2.1 million years ago |journal=Nature |volume=559 |issue=7715 |pages=608–612 |doi=10.1038/s41586-018-0299-4 |pmid=29995848 |bibcode=2018Natur.559..608Z |s2cid=49670311}}</ref> The youngest ''H. habilis'' specimen, OH 13, dates to about 1.65 mya.<ref name=Spoor2015/>

{{clear}}
{{African hominin timeline}}