Homo erectus is an extinct species of the genus Homo, which originated in Africa and to have spread as far as China and Java.
Amongst scientists it is uncontroversially considered to be a direct ancestor of modern humans. H. erectus originally migrated
from Africa during the Early Pleistocene, possibly as a result of the operation of the Saharan pump, around 2.0 million years
ago, and dispersed throughout much of the Old World.
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, and thus by definition with the beginning of the Lower Paleolithic. All species except Homo
sapiens (modern humans) are extinct.
The Common Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), also known as the Robust Chimpanzee, is a great ape. The name troglodytes, Greek
for 'cave-dweller', was coined by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach in his Handbuch der Naturgeschichte (Handbook of Natural History)
published in 1779. Colloquially, it is often called the chimpanzee (or simply 'chimp'), though technically this term refers
to both species in the genus Pan: the Common Chimpanzee and the closely-related Bonobo, or Pygmy Chimpanzee.
Peking Man, also called Sinanthropus pekinensis (currently Homo erectus pekinensis), is an example of Homo erectus. A group
of fossil specimens was discovered in 1923-27 during excavations at Zhoukoudian (Chou K'ou-tien) near Beijing (known as Peking
at that time), China. More recently, the finds have been dated from roughly 500,000 years ago, although a new Al/Be dating
suggests they may be as much as 680,000-780,000 years old.
Homo habilis ("handy man") is a species of the genus Homo, which lived from approximately 2.5 million to at least 1.6 million
years ago at the beginning of the Pleistocene. The discovery and description of this species is credited to both Mary and
Louis Leakey, who found fossils in Tanzania, East Africa, between 1962 and 1964. Homo habilis is the earliest known species
of the genus Homo. In its appearance and morphology, H.
Homo heidelbergensis ("Heidelberg Man") is an extinct species of the genus Homo which may be the direct ancestor of both Homo
neanderthalensis in Europe and Homo sapiens. The best evidence found for these hominin date between 600,000 and 400,000 years
ago. H. heidelbergensis stone tool technology was very close to that of the Acheulean tools used by Homo erectus.
