Homo erectus

(noun)

("upright man) extinct species of hominin that appeared 1.8 million years ago; the first hominin to use fire, hunt, and have a home base

Related Terms

Examples of Homo erectus in the following topics:

  • Homo sapiens

    • Humans (variously Homo sapiens and Homo sapiens sapiens) are primates and the only existing species of the genus Homo.
    • The first Homo species to move out of Africa was H. erectus .
    • H. erectus had a cranial capacity greater than that of H. habilis.
    • In addition, it has been suggested that H. erectus may have been the first hominin to use rafts to travel over oceans.
    • Homo erectus is an extinct species of hominin that lived throughout most of the Pleistocene, with the earliest first fossil evidence dating to around 1.8 million years ago and the most recent to around 143,000 years ago

  • Genus Homo

    • For many years, fossils of a species called Homo habilis were the oldest examples in the genus Homo, but in 2010, a new species called Homo gautengensis was proposed that may be older, although it is not well accepted.
    • A number of species, sometimes called archaic Homo sapiens, apparently evolved from H. erectus starting about 500,000 years ago.
    • This species encompasses archaic human forms such as Homo erectus and Neanderthals as well as modern forms, which evolved worldwide to the diverse populations of modern Homo sapiens sapiens.
    • Homo erectus had a prominent brow and a nose that pointed downward rather than forward.
    • Compare and contrast the evolution and characteristics associated with the various Homo species:  Homo habilis, erectus, and sapiens

  • Early Homo

    • Homo is the genus of great apes that includes humans and species closely related to them.
    • The most salient physiological development between the earlier hominin species and Homo is the increase in cranial capacity, although body size also increased in Homo erectus.
    • The species of early Homo, Homo habilis, resembled australopiths in many distinct ways, but they had smaller teeth and jaws and more modern-looking feet.
    • With the arrival of Homo erectus in the fossil record, cranial capacity doubled to 850 cm3.
    • Homo erectus was the first of the hominins to leave Africa.

  • The Evolution of Humans

    • The fourth stage features the genus Homo, which existed between 1.8 and 2.5 million years ago.
    • This was followed by Homo erectus and Homo ergaster, who had double the brain size and may have been the first to control fire and use more complex tools.
    • Homo heidelbergensis appeared about 800,000 years ago, and modern humans, Homo sapiens, about 200,000 years ago.
    • A separate species, Homo neanderthalensis, had a common ancestor with humans about 660,000 years ago, and engaged in interbreeding with Homo sapiens about 45,000 to 80,000 years ago.
    • A comparison of Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Homo floresiensis and Homo naledi skull features.

  • Early Human Evolution

    • Hominins, who were bipedal in comparison to the other hominoids who were primarily quadrupedal, includes those groups that probably gave rise to our species: Australopithecus africanus, Homo habilis, and Homo erectus, along with non-ancestral groups such as Australopithecus boisei.

  • Regioselectivity and Lewis Acid Catalysis

    • In order to extend this treatment to account for different relative orientations of reactants, it is necessary to evaluate the magnitude of the HOMO and LUMO orbitals at each atom.
    • The remaining three pi-orbitals have similar coefficients (± 0.37 or 0.60), but the location of the higher coefficient shifts to the end carbons in the HOMO and LUMO orbitals (π2 & π3 respectively).
    • The bonding interaction will therefore have electrons flowing from the HOMO of the diene to the LUMO of the dienophile.
    • As noted above, it is the diene HOMO and dienophile LUMO patterns that are most important.
    • In many cases, this analysis of HOMO and LUMO orbital coefficients also provides a good explanation for the beneficial influence of Lewis acid catalysis.

  • African Art

    • Discoveries of engraved stones in the Blombos Caves of South Africa has led some historians to believe that early Homo Sapiens were capable of symbolic art .
    • Engraved ochre from the Blombos Cave has led some historians to believe that early Homo Sapiens were capable of symbolic art.

  • Early Hominins

    • The hominin Australopithecus evolved 4 million years ago and is believed to be in the ancestral line of the genus Homo.
    • This genus is of particular interest to us as it is thought that our genus, genus Homo, evolved from Australopithecus about 2 million years ago.

  • Primates

    • Hominini is the primate tribe of Homininae that includes Homo and other members of the human species after the split from the tribe Panini (chimpanzees).
    • Homo, estimated to be about 2.4 million years old, evolved from Australopithecus ancestors.
    • The human lineage (Homo genus) split from chimpanzees (Pan genus) about 5 million years ago.

  • The Importance of Conjugation

    • The energetically most favorable π __> π* excitation occurs from the highest energy bonding pi-orbital (HOMO) to the lowest energy antibonding pi-orbital (LUMO).
    • In each case the HOMO is colored blue and the LUMO is colored magenta.
    • Increased conjugation brings the HOMO and LUMO orbitals closer together.