History of Homo Sapiens

The earliest Homo species was the Homo habilis. H. habilis means "handy man." H. habilis started the trend toward larger brains, which are at least 30% larger than the A. africanus. Approximate brain size was 500 - 650 cc. One skull from the H. habilis was found near Lake Turkana and represents one of the oldest Homo fossils found to date. H. habilis existed around 2.2 million years ago. H. habilis were also possibly capable of basic speech. The …

…neanderthalensis genes. H. neanderthalensis were also excellent hunters, and were the first known species to bury their dead. Homo sapiens evolved from a small population in Africa around 200,000 years ago then spread into the rest of the world reaching Europe 35,000 years ago. H. sapiens show a cranial volume of 1200 - 1700 cc. Behaviorally, this species showed remarkable improvement from earlier species with development of language, complex social structures, and finely crafted and diverse tools and tool-making.