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Homo erectus
extinct hominin
Also known as: Homo ergaster
Category:
Science & Tech
- Latin:
- “upright man”
- Related Topics:
- Java man
- Peking man
- Solo man
- Lantian man
- Sinanthropus
Homo erectus, extinct species of the human genus (Homo), perhaps an ancestor of modern humans (Homo sapiens). H. erectus most likely originated in Africa, though Eurasia cannot be ruled out. Regardless of where it first evolved, the species seems to have dispersed quickly, starting about 1.9 million years ago (mya) near the middle of the Pleistocene Epoch, moving through the African tropics, Europe, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. This history has been recorded directly if imprecisely by many sites that have yielded fossil remains of H. erectus. At other localities, broken animal bones and stone tools have indicated the presence ...(100 of 4796 words)