( ho mow ha bill-us)Fossil hominid species dating from about 2.2 to 1.5 mya and found in East Africa. Fully bipedal and with an average brain size of 680 ml, H. habilis was the first confirmed hominid stone toolmaker. Because this was the first hominid with a brain larger than that of a chimpanzee, and because of the association with stone tools, H. habilis is thought to be the earliest member of our genus, Homo.
Hominids, separate subspecies of Homo. Fossils found of group living in East Africa between 2 million and 1.5 million years ago. Walked upright, had flat face, large braincase, made simple pebble and flake stone tools.
extinct species of upright east African hominid having some advanced humanlike characteristics
2.2 to 1.6 million years ago
Meaning "handy man." This was the first known species of our genus, Homo. Homo Habilis had a larger brain, but a smaller face and jaw and a more rounded head, than Australopithicus. Homo Habilis was about 5 feet tall, weighed about 110 pounds, and had a brow ridge, flat nose, and projecting jaw. This species lived about 1.52 million years ago, perhaps longer. Its hand and foot bones suggest that it was bipedal (walked upright) and had a strong yet sensitive grip.
Homo habilis (IPA ) ("handy man", "skillful person") is a species of the genus Homo, which lived from approximately 2.5 million to 1.8 million years ago at the beginning of the Pleistocene. The definition of this species is credited to both Mary and Louis Leakey, who found fossils in Tanzania, East Africa, between 1962 and 1964.Richard Leakey describes the discovery and naming of the first habilis in The Making of Mankind, pp 65-66 of the Dutton 1981 hardcover edition. It was found by Jonathan Leakey at Olduvai, and was called at first "Jonny's child."
