Lived ~1.8
mya-200,000ya in a widely distributed range of Africa (Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa, Algeria) and later (as of 1.7mya) in Asia (
Java,
Indonesia and
China - see
Zhoukoudian.) There is some evidence that
Homo erectus was found in
Europe because some of the
tools used by this species have been found there. Considered the most
successful (biologically speaking)
hominid species.
Morphology:
- average cranial capacity of 1000cc with a range of 750-1250cc.
- had sagital keels, nuchal keels and supra-orbital tori
- were the height and general size of AMHS at 5-6 feet tall.
- had less post-orbital constriction than previous species (i.e., the area behind the eyes and before the part of the skull that houses the brain had less of a pinched-in area.)
- were not actually the first bipeds, per se, but were the first highly efficient bipeds, allowing them to leave Africa.
- highly variable in size
Firsts:
- First hominid to appear in fossil record outside of Africa.
- First to use bifacial tools - Acheulean stone tools.
- First evidence of controlled use of fire (there are patches of baked earth that date back to approximately 1.4-1.5mya in Kenya, burnt bone in association with Acheulean tools in S. Africa and hearths, burnt bone, cave-dwellilng and smaller incisors - indicative of cooked food - in the Zhokoudian site in what is now China.)
- First hominid to have a cranial capacity exceeding 1000 cubic centemetres.