Homo rudolfensis
A larger-faced, bigger-brained contemporary of habilis — or the same species, depending who you ask.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 600 thousand years
- Known to
- ± 100 thousand years
- Era
- Early Pleistocene, Quaternary
Homo rudolfensis is founded on skull KNM-ER 1470 from Koobi Fora, which has a brain around 750 cubic centimetres, a long flat face and large teeth. Whether it is a distinct species or simply a large male habilis has been argued for fifty years, and the answer matters: it determines whether early Homo was one variable species or several coexisting ones. Additional finds from 2012 with matching face shape strengthened the case for two.