CARTA: Origins of Genus Homo – Philip Rightmire: Dmanisi Variation and Systematics of Early Homo

Harvard’s Philip Rightmire describes the rich array of early hominin fossils discovered at the Dmanisi site in the Georgian Caucasus. He maintains that these fossils can most reasonably be attributed to Homo erectus, but several of the skeletons display primitive anatomy. That means that the boundaries between H. erectus and other early Homo taxa are less distinct, making it difficult to identify diagnostic traits. He concludes that the emergence of the Homo clade was characterized more by an overlap of groups evolving 2.0 to 1.0 mya, rather than obvious diversity between species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30639]