View source for Homo erectus

{{redirect|H. erectus|the seahorse species|Hippocampus erectus|the 2007 comedy film|Homo Erectus (film)|1997 album|Homo erectus (album)}}
{{redirect|Pithecanthropus erectus|the song and album by that title|Pithecanthropus Erectus (album)|Pithecanthropus erectus erectus|Java Man}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2013}}
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{{Taxobox
| name = ''Homo erectus''
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|1.9|0.07}}<small>Early [[Pleistocene]] – Middle [[Pleistocene]]</small>
| image = Homme de Tautavel 01-08.jpg
| image_width = 200px
| image_caption = Reconstruction of a specimen from Tautavel, France
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]]
| classis = [[Mammal]]ia
| ordo = [[Primates]]
| familia = [[Hominid]]ae
| genus = ''[[Homo (genus)|Homo]]''
| species = '''''H. erectus'''''
| binomial = †''Homo erectus''
| binomial_authority = ([[Eugène Dubois|Dubois]], 1892)
| synonyms =
*† ''[[Java Man|Anthropopithecus erectus]]''
*† ''[[Java Man|Pithecanthropus erectus]]''
*† ''[[Sinanthropus pekinensis]]''
*† ''Javanthropus soloensis''
*† ''Meganthropus paleojavanicus''
*† ''Telanthropus capensis''
*† ''Homo georgicus''
*† ''[[Homo ergaster]]''?
}} 
'''''Homo erectus ''''' (meaning "upright man", from the Latin ''ērigere'', "to put up, set upright") is an extinct [[species]] of [[hominid]] that lived throughout most of the [[Pleistocene]] geological epoch. Its earliest fossil evidence dates to 1.9 million years ago and the most recent to 70,000 years ago. Its extinction is linked by some scientists to the [[Toba catastrophe theory|Toba super-eruption catastrophe]], but no sufficient case has been made to date for the idea. It is generally thought that ''H. erectus'' originated in [[Africa]] and spread from there, migrating throughout Eurasia as far as [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[India]], [[Sri Lanka]], [[China]] and [[Java]].<ref name="Hazarika">{{cite news|last=Hazarika|first=Manji|title=''Homo erectus/ergaster'' and Out of Africa: Recent Developments in Paleoanthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology|date=16–30 June 2007|url=http://www.himalayanlanguages.org/files/hazarika/Manjil%20Hazarika%20EAA.pdf}}</ref><ref name="Chauhan">Chauhan, Parth R. (2003) [http://www.assemblage.group.shef.ac.uk/issue7/chauhan.html#distribution "Distribution of Acheulian sites in the Siwalik region"] in ''An Overview of the Siwalik Acheulian & Reconsidering Its Chronological Relationship with the Soanian – A Theoretical Perspective''. assemblage.group.shef.ac.uk</ref>  But other scientists posit that the species rose first, or separately, in Asia.

Debate also  continues about the classification, ancestry, and progeny of ''Homo erectus'', especially vis-à-vis ''[[Homo ergaster]]'', with two major positions: 1) ''H. erectus'' is the same species as ''[[H. ergaster]]'', and thereby ''H. erectus'' is a direct ancestor of the later hominins including ''[[Homo heidelbergensis]]'', ''[[Homo neanderthalensis]]'', and ''[[Homo sapiens]]''; or, 2) it is in fact an [[Asia]]n species distinct from African ''H. ergaster''.<ref name="Hazarika"/><ref>See overview of theories on [[human evolution]].</ref><ref>Klein, R. (1999). ''The Human Career: Human Biological and Cultural Origins''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0226439631.</ref>

And there is another view—an alternative to 1): some [[palaeoanthropologist]]s consider ''H. ergaster'' to be a variety, that is, the "''African''" variety, of ''H. erectus'', and they offer the labels "''Homo erectus [[sensu stricto]]''" (strict sense) for the Asian species and "''Homo erectus [[sensu lato]]''" (broad sense) for the greater species comprising both Asian and African populations.<!------------><ref>{{cite journal|author=Antón, S. C. |year=2003|title=Natural history of Homo erectus|journal= Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.|volume=122|pages=126–170|doi=10.1002/ajpa.10399|quote=By the 1980s, the growing numbers of ''H. erectus'' specimens, particularly in Africa, led to the realization that Asian ''H. erectus'' (''H. erectus sensu stricto''), once thought so primitive, was in fact more derived than its African counterparts. These morphological differences were interpreted by some as evidence that more than one species might be included in ''H. erectus sensu lato'' (e.g., Stringer, 1984; Andrews, 1984; Tattersall, 1986; Wood, 1984, 1991a, b; Schwartz and Tattersall, 2000) ... Unlike the European lineage, in my opinion, the taxonomic issues surrounding Asian vs. African H. erectus are more intractable. The issue was most pointedly addressed with the naming of H. ergaster on the basis of the type mandible KNM-ER 992, but also including the partial skeleton and isolated teeth of KNM-ER 803 among other Koobi Fora remains (Groves and Mazak, 1975). Recently, this specific name was applied to most early African and Georgian H. erectus in recognition of the less-derived nature of these remains vis à vis conditions in Asian H. erectus (see Wood, 1991a, p. 268; Gabunia et al., 2000a). It should be noted, however, that at least portions of the paratype of H. ergaster (e.g., KNM-ER 1805) are not included in most current conceptions of that taxon. The ''H. ergaster'' question remains famously unresolved (e.g., Stringer, 1984; Tattersall, 1986; Wood, 1991a, 1994; Rightmire, 1998b; Gabunia et al., 2000a; Schwartz and Tattersall, 2000), in no small part because the original diagnosis provided no comparison with the Asian fossil record}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | author=Suwa G; Asfaw B; Haile-Selassie Y; White T; Katoh S; WoldeGabriel G; Hart W; Nakaya H; Beyene Y| doi = 10.1537/ase.061203 | title = Early Pleistocene Homo erectus fossils from Konso, southern Ethiopia | journal = Anthropological Science | volume = 115 | issue = 2 | pages = 133 | year = 2007 | pmid =  | pmc = }}</ref>

A new debate appeared in 2013, with the documentation of the [[Dmanisi#Archaeological site|Dmanisi]] [[skulls]].<ref>[http://www.nature.com/news/skull-suggests-three-early-human-species-were-one-1.13972 Skull suggests three early human species were one : Nature News & Comment]</ref> Considering the large morphological variation among all Dmanisi skulls, researchers now suggest that several early human ancestors variously classified, for example, as ''[[Homo ergaster]]'', or ''[[Homo rudolfensis]]'', and perhaps even ''[[Homo habilis]]'', should instead be designated as ''Homo erectus''.<ref name=dmanisiskull5>{{cite journal |title=A Complete Skull from Dmanisi, Georgia, and the Evolutionary Biology of Early Homo |author=David Lordkipanidze, Marcia S. Ponce de Leòn, Ann Margvelashvili, Yoel Rak, G. Philip Rightmire, Abesalom Vekua, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer |journal=Science |date=18 October 2013 |volume= 342 |issue= 6156 |pages= 326–331 |doi= 10.1126/science.1238484 }}</ref><ref name=National_Geographic>{{cite news |last=Switek |first=Brian |date=17 October 2013 |title= Beautiful Skull Spurs Debate on Human History |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131017-skull-human-origins-dmanisi-georgia-erectus/ |newspaper= National Geographic |accessdate=22 September 2014 }}</ref>

==Origin==
[[File:Homo erectus.jpg|thumb|left|''Homo erectus'', [[University of Michigan Museum of Natural History]], Ann Arbor, Michigan]] 
The first hypothesis of origin is that ''Homo erectus'' rose from the [[Australopithecina]] in [[East Africa]]  sometime during—or perhaps even before—the [[Early Pleistocene]] geological epoch, which itself dates to 2.58 million years ago (''see'' below, "In a new finding, in 2013..."). From there it migrated, in part, by 2.0 mya, probably as a result of broad desertifying conditions developing then in eastern and northern Africa; it joined the migrations through the [[Sahara Pump Theory|"Saharan pump"]] and dispersed around much of the [[Old World]]. The fossil record shows that its development from about 1.8 mya to one mya was widely distributed: in Africa ([[Lake Turkana]] <!------> <ref>{{cite journal|authorlink=Kendrick Frazier|author=Frazier, Kendrick |url=http://www.csicop.org/si/2006-06/leakey.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20090110223159/http://www.csicop.org/si/2006-06/leakey.html|archivedate=2009-01-10|title= Leakey Fights Church Campaign to Downgrade Kenya Museum’s Human Fossils|journal=Skeptical Inquirer magazine |volume =30 |issue=6|date= Nov–Dec 2006}}</ref> <!-----> and [[Olduvai Gorge]]), the [[Caucasus#Prehistory|Transcaucasus]] ([[Dmanisi#Archaeological site|Dmanisi]] in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]), Indonesia ([[Sangiran]], [[Central Java]] and [[Trinil]], [[East Java]]), and in Vietnam, China ([[Zhoukoudian]] and [[Lantian Man|Shaanxi]]), and India.<ref>{{Cite book | author=Prins, Harald E. L.; Walrath, Dana and McBride, Bunny | title = Evolution and prehistory: the human challenge| publisher = Wadsworth Publishing| year = 2007| page = 162| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=LfYirloa_rUC&pg=PA16| isbn = 978-0-495-38190-7}}</ref>

The second hypothesis is that ''H. erectus'' evolved in [[Eurasia]] and then migrated to Africa. They occupied the [[Dmanisi]] site from 1.85 million to 1.77 million years ago, which was about the same time or slightly before their earliest evidence in Africa.<ref name="doi10.1073/pnas.1106638108">{{Cite journal | last1 = Ferring | first1 = R. | last2 = Oms | first2 = O. | last3 = Agusti | first3 = J. | last4 = Berna | first4 = F. | last5 = Nioradze | first5 = M. | last6 = Shelia | first6 = T. | last7 = Tappen | first7 = M. | last8 = Vekua | first8 = A. | last9 = Zhvania | first9 = D. | last10 = Lordkipanidze | first10 = D. | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1106638108 | title = Earliest human occupations at Dmanisi (Georgian Caucasus) dated to 1.85-1.78 Ma | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume = 108 | issue = 26 | pages = 10432 | year = 2011 | pmid =  | pmc = }}</ref><ref>[http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report_new-discovery-suggests-homo-erectus-originated-from-asia_1552611 New discovery suggests Homo erectus originated from Asia]. Dnaindia.com. 8 June 2011.</ref> There are several proposed explanations of the dispersal of ''H. erectus georgicus''—including whether or not Africa is the source).<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.04.012|date=June 2011 |last1=Augusti |first1=Jordi |last2=Lordkipanidze |first2=David |title=How "African" was the early human dispersal out of Africa?|volume=30|issue=11–12 |pages=1338–1342 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews}}</ref>

==Discovery and representative fossils==
[[File:Skull of Homo erectus, Indian Museum, Kolkata.jpg|thumb|330px|Skull of Homo erectus, [[Indian Museum]]]]
The Dutch anatomist [[Eugène Dubois]] was fascinated by [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]]'s theory of evolution especially as it applied to humankind. In 1886, he set out for [[Asia]]—which then was the region accepted as the cradle of human evolution despite Darwin's theory of African origin; see {{section link|Haeckel|Research}}—to find a human ancestor. In 1891, his team discovered a human fossil on the island of [[Java]], [[Dutch East Indies]] (now [[Indonesia]]). Excavated from the bank of the [[Solo River]] at [[Trinil]], in [[East Java]], he named the species ''Pithecanthropus erectus''—from the Greek ''πίθηκος'',<ref>''pithecos''</ref> "ape", and ''ἄνθρωπος'',<ref>''anthropos''</ref> "man"—based on a skullcap (calotte) and a femur like that of ''Homo sapiens''.

Dubois' 1891 find was the first fossil of a ''Homo''-species (or any hominin species) found as result of a directed expedition and search—and which was inspired by Darwin's radical theory that humans, like all other species, evolved from ancestral species, see [[human evolution]]. (The first found and recognized human fossil was the accidental discovery of ''[[Homo sapiens neanderthalensis]]'' in 1856, see [[List of human evolution fossils]].) The Java fossil aroused much public interest. It was dubbed by the popular press as ''[[Java Man]]''; but few scientists accepted Dubois' argument that his fossil was the [[Transitional fossil|transitional form]]—the so-called [[Transitional fossil#Missing links|"missing link"]]—between apes and humans.{{Sfn|Swisher|Curtis|Lewin|2000|p=70}} ''Java Man'' is now classified as ''Homo erectus''.

Most of the spectacular discoveries of ''H. erectus'' next took place at the [[Zhoukoudian|Zhoukoudian Project]], now known as the [[Peking Man]] Site, in Zhoukoudian, [[China]]. This site was first discovered by [[Johan Gunnar Andersson]] in 1921<!----------><ref name="doorKnock1">{{cite news | authorlink = | title = The First Knock at the Door| url = | format = | work = | publisher = Peking Man Site Museum | pages = | page = | date = | accessdate =  | quote = In the summer of 1921, Dr. J.G. Andersson and his companions discovered this richly fossiliferous deposit through the local quarry men's guide. During examination he was surprised to notice some fragments of white quartz in tabus, a mineral normally foreign in that locality. The significance of this occurrence immediately suggested itself to him and turning to his companions, he exclaimed dramatically "Here is primitive man, now all we have to do is find him!"}}</ref> <!--------->and was first excavated in 1921, which produced two human teeth.<!----------><ref name="doorKnock2">{{cite news | authorlink = | title = The First Knock at the Door| url = | format = | work = | publisher = Peking Man Site Museum | pages = | page = | date = | accessdate =  | quote = For some weeks in this summer and a longer period in 1923 Dr. Otto Zdansky carried on excavations of this cave site. He accumulated an extensive collection of fossil material, including two Homo erectus teeth that were recognized in 1926. So, the cave home of Peking Man was opened to the world.}}</ref> Canadian anatomist [[Davidson Black]]'s initial description (1921) of a lower molar as belonging to a previously unknown species (which he named ''[[Sinanthropus pekinensis]]'')<!--------><ref>from ''sino-'', a combining form of the Greek ''Σίνα'', "China", and the Latinate ''pekinensis'', "of Peking"</ref> <!---->prompted widely-publicized interest. Extensive excavations followed, which altogether uncovered 200 human fossils from more than 40 individuals including five nearly complete [[Calvaria (skull)|skullcaps]].<!-----------><ref name="historyMus5">{{cite news | authorlink = | title = Review of the History | url = | format = | work = | publisher = Peking Man Site Museum | pages = | page = | date = | accessdate =  | quote = During 1927-1937, abundant human and animal fossils as well as artefact were found at Peking Man Site, it made the site to be the most productive one of the Homo erectus sites of the same age all over the world. Other localities in the vicinity were also excavated almost at the same time.}}</ref> German anatomist [[Franz Weidenreich]] provided much of the detailed description of this material in several monographs published in the journal ''Palaeontologica Sinica'' (Series D).

Nearly all of the original specimens were lost during [[World War II]]; however, authentic casts were made by Weidenreich which exist at the [[American Museum of Natural History]] in [[New York]] and at the [[Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology]] in [[Beijing]], and are considered to be reliable evidence.

Throughout much of the 20th century, anthropologists debated the role of ''H. erectus'' in [[human evolution]]. Early in the century, due in part to the discoveries at Java and Zhoukoudian, it was widely accepted that modern humans first evolved in [[Asia]]. A few naturalists—Charles Darwin most prominent among them—theorized that humans' earliest ancestors were African: Darwin pointed out that chimpanzees and gorillas, humans' closest relatives, evolved and exist only in Africa.<ref>{{cite book|last=Darwin|first = Charles R.|title=The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex|publisher=John Murray|year=1871|isbn=0-8014-2085-7}}</ref>

===African genesis===
[[File:Homo Georgicus IMG 2921.JPG|thumb|Dmanisi skull 3, Fossils skull [[D2700]] and [[D2735]] jaw, two of several found in [[Dmanisi]] in the [[Republic of Georgia|Georgian]] [[Caucasus]].]]
From the 1950s forward, numerous finds in East Africa confirmed the hypothesis of an African genesis, providing fossil evidence that the earliest [[Hominini|hominins]] originated there. It is now generally accepted that ''H. erectus'' descended from either: 1) the earliest hominin genera (such as ''[[Australopithecus]]'', and possibly ''[[Ardipithecus]]''—of which is still debated whether it is hominin or hominid); or 2) the earliest ''Homo''-species (such as ''[[Homo habilis]]'' or ''[[Homo ergaster]]''). East Africa provided [[sympatric]]  coexistence for ''H. erectus'' and ''H. habilis''    for several hundred-thousand years, which tends to confirm the hypothesis that they represent separate lineages from a common ancestor; that is, the ancestral relationship between them was not [[anagenetic]], but was [[Cladogenesis|cladogenetic]], which here suggests that a subgroup population of ''habilis''—or of a common ancestor of ''habilis'' and ''erectus''—became [[reproductively isolated]] from the main-group population, eventually evolving into the new species ''Homo erectus''.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Implications of new early ''Homo'' fossils from Ileret, east of Lake Turkana, Kenya|author=F. Spoor, M. G. Leakey, P. N. Gathogo, F. H. Brown, S. C. Antón, I. McDougall, C. Kiarie, F. K. Manthi &  L. N. Leakey|journal=Nature|issue= 7154|pages= 688–691|date=2007-08-09|doi=10.1038/nature05986|volume=448|pmid=17687323}} "A partial maxilla assigned to H. habilis reliably demonstrates that this species survived until later than previously recognized, making an ''anagenetic'' relationship with H. erectus unlikely" (Emphasis added).</ref>

In the 1950s, archaeologists [[John T. Robinson]] and [[Robert Broom]] named ''Telanthropus capensis'';<ref name="Robinson1953">{{cite journal |author=ROBINSON JT |title=The nature of Telanthropus capensis |journal=Nature |volume=171 |issue=4340 |pages=33 |date=January 1953  |pmid=13025468 |doi=10.1038/171033a0}}</ref> Robinson had discovered a jaw fragment in 1949 in [[Swartkrans]], [[South Africa]]. Later, Simonetta proposed to re-designate it to ''Homo erectus'', and Robinson agreed.<ref name="Grine2009">{{cite book | title = The First Humans: Origin and Early Evolution of the Genus Homo | author = Frederick E. Grine; John G. Fleagle; Richard E. Leakey | date = 1 Jun 2009 | publisher = Springer | page = 7 | chapter = Chapter 2: ''Homo habilis''—A Premature Discovery: Remember by One of Its Founding Fathers, 42 Years Later}}</ref>

In 1961, [[Yves Coppens]] discovered a skull of ''Tchadanthropus uxoris'', then the earliest fossil human discovered in north Africa.<ref name=Kalb76>{{cite book | last = Kalb| first = Jon E| title =Adventures in the Bone Trade: The Race to Discover Human Ancestors in Ethiopia's Afar Depression| publisher =[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] | year = 2001 | page = 76| isbn =0-387-98742-8 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=SiWispLhG1UC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Adventures+Bone+Trade#v=onepage&q&f=false |accessdate=2010-12-02}}</ref> It was reported that the fossil "had been so eroded by wind-blown sand that it mimicked the appearance of an australopith, a primitive type of ''hominid''".<ref name=Wood2002>{{Cite journal |date=11 July 2002 |author=Wood, Bernard |title=Palaeoanthropology: Hominid revelations from Chad | journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume= 418 |issue= 6894 |pages= 133–135 |doi= 10.1038/418133a | url=http://www.fhuce.edu.uy/antrop/cursos/abiol/links/Artics/wood%202002.pdf | archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20110717090936/http://www.fhuce.edu.uy/antrop/cursos/abiol/links/Artics/wood%202002.pdf | archivedate=2011-07-17 |accessdate=2 December 2010}}</ref><!----------> Although at first considered to be a specimen of ''H. habilis'',<ref name=Cornevin>{{cite book | last = Cornevin| first = Robert| title =Histoire de l'Afrique | publisher =Payotte | year = 1967| page = 440 | isbn = 2-228-11470-7}}</ref> ''T. uxoris'' is no longer considered a valid taxon, and has been subsumed into ''H. erectus''.<ref name=Kalb76/><ref>{{cite web | title = Mikko's Phylogeny Archive | url = http://www.fmnh.helsinki.fi/users/haaramo/Metazoa/Deuterostoma/Chordata/Synapsida/Eutheria/Primates/Hominoidea/Homo_erectus.htm | archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070106024346/http://www.fmnh.helsinki.fi/users/haaramo/Metazoa/Deuterostoma/Chordata/Synapsida/Eutheria/Primates/Hominoidea/Homo_erectus.htm | archivedate = 2007-01-06 | work=Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki}}</ref>

In 2013, a fragment of fossilized jawbone, dated to around 2.8 million years ago,  was discovered in the [[Ledi-Geraru]] research area in [[Afar Region|the Afar depression]], Ethiopia.<ref name=newscientist>{{cite web|url=http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27079-oldest-known-member-of-human-family-found-in-ethiopia.html#.VPrw7vmsXId |title=Oldest known member of human family found in Ethiopia |publisher=''[[New Scientist]]'' |date=4 March 2015 |accessdate=2015-03-07}}
{{cite web|last=Ghosh |first=Pallab |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31718336 |title= 'First human' discovered in Ethiopia |publisher=bbc.co.uk |date=4 March 2015 |accessdate=7 March 2015}}</ref> The fossil is considered the earliest evidence of the ''Homo'' genus known to date, and seems to be intermediate between ''Australopithecus'' and ''H. habilis''. The individual lived just after a major [[Abrupt climate change|climate shift]] in the region, when forests and waterways were rapidly replaced by arid [[savannah]], which was a domain favored by the early hominins.<ref>"Vertebrate fossils record a faunal turnover indicative of more open and probable arid habitats than those reconstructed earlier in this region, in broad agreement with hypotheses addressing the role of environmental forcing in hominin evolution at this time." {{cite journal|url=http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2015/03/03/science.aaa1415 |title=Late Pliocene fossiliferous sedimentary record and the environmental context of early ''Homo'' from Afar, Ethiopia |author=Erin N. DiMaggio EN, Campisano CJ, Rowan J, Dupont-Nivet G, Deino AL|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |doi=10.1126/science.aaa1415 |display-authors=etal}}</ref>

===''Homo erectus georgicus''===
[[File:Dmanissi, Georgia ; Homo georgicus 1999 discovery map.png|thumb|Location of [[Dmanisi]] discovery, Georgia]]

'''''Homo erectus georgicus'''''  is the subspecies name assigned to fossil skulls and jaws found in [[Dmanisi]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]. First proposed as a separate species, it is now classified within ''H. erectus''.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.1072953 |pmid=12098694 |year=2002 |author=Vekua A, Lordkipanidze D, Rightmire GP, Agusti J, Ferring R, Maisuradze G, Mouskhelishvili A, Nioradze M, De Leon MP, Tappen M, Tvalchrelidze M, Zollikofer C|title=A new skull of early Homo from Dmanisi, Georgia |volume=297 |issue=5578 |pages=85–9 |journal=Science}}</ref><ref name=nature06134>{{Cite journal | author=Lordkipanidze D, Jashashvili T, Vekua A, Ponce de León MS, Zollikofer CP, Rightmire GP, Pontzer H, Ferring R, Oms O, Tappen M, Bukhsianidze M, Agusti J, Kahlke R, Kiladze G, Martinez-Navarro B, Mouskhelishvili A, Nioradze M, Rook L| title = Postcranial evidence from early Homo from Dmanisi, Georgia | doi = 10.1038/nature06134 | journal = Nature |url=http://www.mediadesk.uzh.ch/assets/downloads/Dmanisi_press_release.pdf| volume = 449 | issue = 7160 | pages = 305–310 | year = 2007 | pmid =  17882214| pmc = }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal 
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}}</ref><!---------------> The site was discovered in 1991 by Georgian scientist [[David Lordkipanidze]]. Five skulls were excavated from 1991 forward, including a "very complete" skull in 2005. Excavations at Dmanisi have yielded 73 stone tools for cutting and chopping and 34 bone fragments from unidentified [[fauna]].<ref name="doi10.1073/pnas.1106638108"/> The fossils are about 1.8 million years old.

After their initial assessment, some scientists were persuaded to name the Dmanisi find as a new species, ''Homo georgicus'', which they posited as a descendant of African ''[[Homo habilis]]'' and an ancestor to Asian ''Homo erectus''. This classification, however, was not supported, and the fossil was instead designated a divergent subgroup of ''Homo erectus''.<!--------------><ref>{{cite journal|url=ftp://ftp.soest.hawaii.edu/engels/Stanley/Textbook_update/Science_300/Gibbons-03b.pdf |title=A Shrunken Head for African ''Homo erectus'' |doi=10.1126/science.300.5621.893a|year=2003|last1=Gibbons|first1=A.|journal=Science|volume=300|issue=5621|pages=893a }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Tattersall | first1 = I. | last2 = Schwartz | first2 = J. H. | doi = 10.1146/annurev.earth.031208.100202 | title = Evolution of the GenusHomo | journal = Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences | volume = 37 | pages = 67 | year = 2009 | pmid =  | pmc = }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal 
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| pages = 1019–1025 
| year = 2000 
| pmid = 10807567
}}</ref>

The fossil skeletons present a species primitive in its skull and upper body but with relatively advanced spine and lower limbs, inferring greater mobility than the previous morphology.<ref name="Bower, Bruce 275–276">{{cite journal|doi=10.2307/4019325|title=Evolutionary back story: Thoroughly modern spine supported human ancestor|author=Bower, Bruce|journal=Science News|volume =169|issue =18| pages =275–276|date= 3 May 2006 }}</ref> <!----->It is now thought ''not'' to be a separate species, but to represent a stage soon after the transition between ''H. habilis'' to ''H. erectus''; it has been dated at 1.8 mya.<ref name=nature06134/><ref>{{cite news |first=John Noble |last=Wilford |authorlink=John Noble Wilford |date=19 September 2007 |title=New Fossils Offer Glimpse of Human Ancestors |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/science/19cnd-fossil.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |accessdate=9 September 2009}}</ref> The assemblage includes one of the largest [[Pleistocene]] ''Homo'' mandibles (D2600), one of the smallest [[Lower Pleistocene]] mandibles (D211), a nearly complete sub-adult (D2735), and a toothless specimen [[Dmanisi skull 4|D3444/D3900]].<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.02.003 |pmid=18394678 |year=2008  |last1=Rightmire |first1=G. Philip |last2=Van Arsdale |first2=Adam P. |last3=Lordkipanidze |first3=David |authorlink3=David Lordkipanidze |title=Variation in the mandibles from Dmanisi, Georgia |volume=54 |issue=6 |pages=904–8 |journal=Journal of Human Evolution}}</ref>

Two of the skulls—[[skull D2700|D2700]], with a brain volume of {{Convert|600|cc}}, and [[Dmanisi skull|D4500 or Dmanisi Skull 5]], with a brain volume of about 546 centimetres—present the two smallest and most primitive [[Hominina]] skulls from the Pleistocene period.<ref name=dmanisiskull5>{{cite journal |title=A Complete Skull from Dmanisi, Georgia, and the Evolutionary Biology of Early Homo |author=David Lordkipanidze1, Marcia S. Ponce de Lean, Ann Margvelashvili, Yoel Rak, G. Philip Rightmire, Abesalom Vekua, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer |journal=Science |date=18 October 2013 |volume= 342 |issue= 6156 |pages= 326–331 |doi= 10.1126/science.1238484 }}</ref> <!------------>The variation in these skulls were compared to variations in modern humans and within a sample group of chimpanzees.  The researchers found that, despite appearances, the variations in the Dmanisi skulls were no greater than those seen among modern people and among chimpanzees. These findings suggest that previous fossil finds that were classified as different species on the basis of the large morphological variation among them—including  ''[[Homo rudolfensis]]'', ''[[Homo gautengensis]]'', ''[[H. ergaster]]'', and potentially even ''[[H. habilis]]''—should perhaps be re-classified to the same lineage as ''Homo erectus''.<ref>{{cite news |title= Skull of Homo erectus throws story of human evolution into disarray |url= http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/17/skull-homo-erectus-human-evolution |author=Ian Sample |work= The Guardian |date= 17 October 2013 }}</ref>

==Classification and distinctions==
[[Paleoanthropologist]]s continue to debate the classification of ''Homo erectus'' and ''[[Homo ergaster]]'' as separate species. One school of thought suggests dropping the taxon ''Homo erectus'' and equating ''H. erectus'' with the archaic ''H. sapiens''.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Weidenreich, F. |year=1943|title=The "Neanderthal Man" and the ancestors of "Homo Sapiens"|jstor=662864|doi=10.1525/aa.1943.45.1.02a00040 |journal=American Anthropologist |volume=45|pages=39–48}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Jelinek, J. |year=1978|title= Homo erectus or Homo sapiens? |journal=Rec. Adv. Primatol.|volume=3|pages=419–429}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Wolpoff, M.H. |year=1984|title= Evolution of Homo erectus: The question of stasis|jstor=2400612|journal= Palaeobiology |volume=10|issue=4|pages=389–406}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|jstor=681178|author=Frayer, D.W., Wolpoff, M.H.; Thorne, A.G.; Smith, F.H. and Pope, G.G. |year=1993|title= Theories of modern human origins: The paleontological test|journal=American Anthropologist|volume=95|pages=14–50|doi=10.1525/aa.1993.95.1.02a00020}}</ref><!---------> Another calls ''H. ergaster'' the direct African ancestor of ''H. erectus'', proposing that ''erectus'' emigrated out of Africa to [[Asia]] while branching into a distinct species.<ref>{{cite book|last=Tattersall|first=Ian and Jeffrey Schwartz|title=Extinct Humans|year=2001|isbn=0-8133-3482-9|place=Boulder, Colorado|publisher= Westview/Perseus}}</ref><!---------> Some scholars dispense with the species name ''ergaster'', making no distinction between such fossils as the [[Turkana Boy]] and [[Peking Man]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} Still, "''Homo ergaster''" has gained some acceptance as a valid taxon, and the two species are still usually defined as distinct African and Asian [[populations]] of the greater species ''H. erectus'', that is, "''Homo erectus [[sensu lato]]''".

Some have insisted that [[Ernst Mayr]]'s [[Biological species concept|biological species definition]] cannot be used to test the above hypotheses—that is, that the two species might be considered the same. Alternatively, the amount of variation of cranial morphology between known specimens of ''H. erectus'' and ''H. ergaster'' can be compared to the same variation within an appropriate population of living primates (that is, one of similar geographical distribution or close evolutionary relationship), such that: if the amount of variation between ''H. erectus'' and ''H. ergaster'' is greater than that within an appropriately selected population, for example, say, [[macaque]]s, then ''H. erectus'' and ''H. ergaster'' may be considered as two different species.

Finding an extant (i.e., living) model suitable for field study, analysis, and comparison is very important; and selecting a living sample population of an appropriate species can be difficult. (For example, the morphological variation among the global population of ''H. sapiens'' is small,<ref name="Java Man"/> so our own species diversity may not be a trustworthy comparison. Fossils found in [[Dmanisi]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] were originally designated as a separate (but closely related) species; but subsequent specimens showed their variation to be within the range of ''Homo erectus''. and they are now classified as ''Homo erectus georgicus''.)

''H. erectus'' fossils show a [[Human cranium|cranial]] capacity greater than that of ''[[Homo habilis]]'' (although the Dmanisi specimens have distinctively small crania): the earliest fossils show a cranial capacity of 850&nbsp;cm³, while later Javan specimens measure up to 1100&nbsp;cm³,<ref name="Java Man">Swisher, Carl Celso III; Curtis, Garniss H. and Lewin, Roger (2002) ''Java Man'', Abacus, ISBN 0-349-11473-0.</ref> overlapping that of ''H. sapiens''.; the [[frontal bone]] is less sloped and the dental arcade smaller than that of the [[australopithecine]]s; the face is more orthognatic (less protrusive) than either the australopithecines or ''H. habilis'', with large brow-ridges and less prominent [[zygoma]]ta (cheekbones). The early hominins stood about {{height|m=1.79|precision=0}}<ref name = Bryson>{{cite book |author=Bryson, Bill |title=A Short History of Nearly Everything: Special Illustrated Edition |publisher=Doubleday Canada |location=Toronto |year= 2005|isbn=0-385-66198-3}}</ref>—only 17 percent of modern male humans are taller<!------><ref name = Khanna>{{cite book |author=Khanna, Dev Raj |title=Human Evolution |publisher=Discovery Publishing House |year= 2004|page=195 |isbn=978-8171417759|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=aTxkAcdYgu0C&pg=PA195 |quote=African H. erectus, with a mean stature of 170 cm, would be in the tallest 17 percent of modern populations, even if we make comparisons only with males |accessdate=30 March 2013 }}</ref>—and were extraordinarily slender, with long arms and legs.<!-----><ref name = Roylance>{{cite news |title=A Kid Tall For His Age |author=Roylance, Frank D. Roylance  |url=http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1994-02-06/news/1994037060_1_erectus-skeleton-neanderthal |newspaper=Baltimore Sun |quote=Clearly this population of early people were tall, and fit. Their long bones were very strong. We believe their activity level was much higher than we can imagine today. We can hardly find Olympic athletes with the stature of these people |date=6 February 1994 |accessdate=30 March 2013}}</ref>

[[Sexual dimorphism]] in ''H. erectus''—males are about 25% larger than females—is slightly greater than seen in the later ''H. sapiens'', but less than that of the earlier genus ''[[Australopithecus]]''. Regarding evolution of human physiology, the discovery of the skeleton of "[[Turkana boy]]" (''Homo ergaster'') near [[Lake Turkana]], [[Kenya]], by [[Richard Leakey]] and [[Kamoya Kimeu]] in 1984—one of the most complete hominin skeletons ever discovered—has contributed greatly to the interpretation.

===Interpreting evolution: ''H. erectus'' / ''H. ergaster'' / ''H. sapiens''===
[[File:Homo-Stammbaum, Version Stringer-en.svg|425px|thumb|Springer graph-model of the evolution of several species of genus ''Homo'' over the last 2 million years (vertical axis). The rapid "[[Recent African origin of modern humans|Out of Africa]]" expansion of ''H. sapiens'' is indicated at the top of the diagram.<ref name="Stringer 2012 33–35">{{cite journal | last=Stringer | first=C. | title=What makes a modern human | journal=Nature | year=2012 | volume=485 | issue=7396 | pages=33–35 | doi=10.1038/485033a | pmid=22552077}}</ref>]]
[[File:Human evolution chart-en.svg|An alternate graph-model of the temporal and geographical distribution of several ''Homo'' species, evolving over the last two million years ; proposed by Reed, et al., redrawn from Springer.<ref name="ncbi.nlm.nih.gov">[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC521174/figure/pbio-0020340-g005/ "Figure 5. Temporal and Geographical Distribution of Hominid Populations Redrawn from Stringer (2003)"] (edited from source), in {{cite journal |last1=Reed |first1=David L. |last2=Smith |first2=Vincent S. |last3=Hammond |first3=Shaless L. |last4=Rogers |first4=Alan R. |last5=Clayton |first5=Dale H. |date=November 2004 |title=Genetic Analysis of Lice Supports Direct Contact between Modern and Archaic Humans |journal=[[PLOS Biology]] |location=San Francisco, CA |publisher=[[PLOS]] |volume=2 |issue=11 |page=e340 |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0020340 |issn=1545-7885 |pmc=521174 |pmid=15502871 |display-authors=3}}</ref> Note the depiction of ''Homo ergaster'' as an ancestor of ''Homo erectus''.|thumb|425px]]

Springer (2003, 2012) and Reed, et al. (2004) and others have produced schematic graph-models for interpreting the evolution of ''Homo sapiens'' from earlier species of ''Homo'', including ''Homo erectus'' and/or ''Homo ergaster'', ''see'' graphs at right. Blue areas denote the existence of one or more hominin species at a given time and place (that is, region). These and other interpretations differ mainly in the taxonomy and geographical distribution of species.<ref name="Stringer 2012 33–35"/><!-----><ref name="ncbi.nlm.nih.gov"/>

Springer (''see'' upper graph-model) depicts the presence of ''H. erectus'' as dominating the temporal and geographic development of human evolution; and as persisting broadly throughout Africa and Eurasia for nearly 2 million years, eventually evolving into ''[[Homo heidelbergensis|H. heidelbergensis / H. rhodesiensis]]'', which in turn evolved in ''H. sapiens''. Reed, et al. shows ''Homo ergaster'' as the ancestor of ''Homo erectus''; then it is ''ergaster'', or a variety of ''ergaster'', or perhaps a hybrid of ''ergaster'' and ''erectus'', which develops into species that evolve into archaic and then modern humans and then out of Africa.

Both models show the Asian variety of ''Homo erectus'' going extinct recently. And both models indicate species [[Archaic human admixture with modern humans|admixture]]: early modern humans spread from Africa across different regions of the globe and interbred with earlier descendants of ''[[H. heidelbergensis|H. heidelbergensis / H. rhodesiensis]]'', namely the Neanderthals, Denisovans, as well as unknown archaic African hominins. ''See'' [[Archaic human admixture with modern humans|admixture]]; and ''see'' [[Neanderthal admixture theory]].<ref name="Whitfield, John">{{cite web |url= http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=lovers-not-fighters |title= Lovers not fighters|work= Scientific American |author=  Whitfield, John |date= 18 February 2008}}</ref>

==Use of tools and fire==
The [[Paleolithic]] Age (Old Stone Age) of prehistoric [[human history]]<!------Yes, it's an oxymoron; but it's ok: pls see the linked article "History of the World"-----> and industry is dated from 2.6 million years ago to about 10,000 years ago;<ref name=Thoth&Schick>Toth, Nicholas; Schick, Kathy (2007). {{cite web|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/u68378621542472j.html|title=Handbook of Paleoanthropology}} In Henke, H.C. Winfried; Hardt, Thorolf; Tatersall, Ian. ''Handbook of Paleoanthropology''. Volume 3. Berlin; Heidelberg; New York: Springer-Verlag. p. 1944. (PRINT: ISBN 978-3-540-32474-4 ONLINE: ISBN 978-3-540-33761-4)</ref> thus it closely coincides with the [[Pleistocene]] epoch of geologic time, which is 2.58 million to 11,700 years ago.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/quaternary/pleistocene.php|title=The Pleistocene Epoch|publisher=University of California Museum of Paleontology|accessdate=22 August 2014}}</ref> The beginning of early human evolution reaches back to the earliest innovations of primitive technology and tool culture.

''[[Homo ergaster]] '' used more diverse and sophisticated [[stone tool]]s than its predecessors, where early ''Homo erectus'' used comparatively primitive tools. This is probably because ''H. ergaster'' inherited, used, and created tools first of [[Oldowan]] technology and later advanced the technology to the [[Acheulean]].<ref>{{cite book | author = Beck, Roger B.; Black, Linda; Krieger, Larry S.; Naylor, Phillip C. and Shabaka, Dahia Ibo | title = World History: Patterns of Interaction | publisher = McDougal Littell | year = 1999 | location = Evanston, IL |isbn = 0-395-87274-X }}</ref> Because the use of Acheulean tools began ca. 1.8 million years ago,<ref>The Earth Institute. (2011-09-01). [http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2839 Humans Shaped Stone Axes 1.8 Million Years Ago, Study Says]. Columbia University. Accessed 5 January 2012.</ref> and the line of ''H. erectus'' diverged some 200,000 years before the general innovation of Acheulean industry in Africa, then it is plausible that the Asian migratory descendants of ''H. erectus'' made no use of Acheulean technology. It has been suggested that the Asian ''H. erectus'' may have been the first humans to use rafts to travel over bodies of water, including oceans.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Paleoanthropology: Ancient Island Tools Suggest Homo erectus Was a Seafarer | journal = Science | volume = 279 | issue = 5357 | pages = 1635–1637 | date = 13 March 1998 | author = Gibbons, Ann | doi = 10.1126/science.279.5357.1635}}</ref> And the oldest stone tool found in [[Turkey]] reveals that hominins passed through the [[Anatolia]]n gateway from western Asia to Europe approximately 1.2 million years ago—much earlier than previously thought.<ref>[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141223084139.htm   Oldest stone tool ever found in Turkey discovered] by the University of Royal Holloway London and published in ScienceDaily on December 23, 2014</ref>

===Use of fire===
[[East Africa]]n sites, such as [[Chesowanja]] near [[Lake Baringo]], [[Koobi Fora]], and [[Olorgesailie]] in [[Kenya]], show potential evidence that fire was utilized by early humans. At Chesowanja, archaeologists found fire-hardened clay fragments, dated to 1.42 mya.<ref name="James">{{cite journal|last=James|first=Steven R.|date=February 1989|title=Hominid Use of Fire in the Lower and Middle Pleistocene: A Review of the Evidence|journal=Current Anthropology |url=http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/archaeology/Publications/Hearths/Hominid%20Use%20of%20Fire%20in%20the%20Lower%20and%20Middle%20Pleistocene.pdf |volume=30|issue=1|pages=1–26|publisher=University of Chicago Press|doi=10.1086/203705 |accessdate=2012-04-04}}</ref> Analysis showed that, in order to harden it, the clay must have been heated to about {{convert|400|C}}. At Koobi Fora, two sites show evidence of control of fire by ''Homo erectus'' at about 1.5&nbsp;mya, with reddening of sediment associated with heating the material to {{convert|200|-|400|C|F|abbr=on}}.<ref name="James" /> At a "hearth-like depression" at a site in Olorgesailie, Kenya, some microscopic [[charcoal]] was found—but that could have resulted from natural brush fires.<ref name="James"/>

In [[Gadeb]], [[Ethiopia]], fragments of [[Tuff#Welded tuff|welded tuff]] that appeared to have been burned, or scorched, were found alongside ''H. erectus''–created [[Acheulean]] artifacts; but such re-firing of the rocks may have been caused by local volcanic activity.<ref name="James"/> In the [[Middle Awash]] River Valley, cone-shaped depressions of reddish clay were found that could have been created only by temperatures of {{convert|200|C|abbr=on}} or greater. These features are thought to be burnt tree stumps such that the fire was likely away from a habitation site.<ref name="James"/> Burnt stones are found in the Awash Valley, but naturally burnt (volcanic) welded tuff is also found in the area.

A site at [[Bnot Ya'akov Bridge]], [[Israel]] is reported to evidence that ''H. erectus'' or ''H. ergaster'' controlled fire there between 790,000 and 690,000&nbsp;BP;<ref name="Rincon">{{cite news|first=Paul|last=Rincon|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3670017.stm | title=Early human fire skills revealed|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=29 April 2004|accessdate=2007-11-12}}</ref> to date this claim has been widely accepted. Re-analysis of burnt bone fragments and plant ashes from the [[Wonderwerk Cave]], South Africa, has been dubbed evidence supporting human control of fire there by 1 mya.<ref name=Pringle2012>{{citation|date=2 April 2012 |author=Pringle, Heather |title=Quest for Fire Began Earlier Than Thought |journal=ScienceNOW |publisher=[[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] |url=http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/04/quest-for-fire-began-earlier-tha.html?ref=em |accessdate=2012-04-04}}</ref>

===Cooking ===
There is no archaeological evidence that ''Homo erectus'' cooked their food. The idea has been suggested,<ref>{{cite book|last=Wrangham|first=Richard|title=Catching Fire|year=2009|publisher=Basic Books}}</ref> but is not generally accepted.<ref>{{cite book|title=Female Hierarchies|year=1972|publisher=Beresford Book Service|pages=220–229|author=Adrienne Zihlman|author2=Nancy Tanner|editor=Lionel Tiger, Heather T. Fowler|chapter=Gathering and the Hominid Adaptation}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Fedigan|first=Linda Marie|title=The Changing Role of Women in Models of Human Evolution|journal=Annual Review of Anthropology|year=1986|volume=15|pages=25–66|doi=10.1146/annurev.an.15.100186.000325}}</ref> It is known, from the study of [[Use-wear analysis|use-wear]] on [[handaxes]], that meat formed a growing part of the ''H. erectus'' diet. But meat is digestible without cooking, and its use is not itself evidence of cooking. As nuts, berries, fruits, and grasses are also eaten raw, then cooking cannot be presumed: the issue rests on clear evidence from archaeological sites, which at present does not exist.{{or|date=August 2015}}

==Sociality==
''Homo erectus'' was probably the first [[hominin]] to live in a [[hunter-gatherer]] society, and anthropologists such as [[Richard Leakey]] believe that ''erectus'' was socially more like modern humans than the more ''[[Australopithecus]]''-like species before it. Likewise, increased cranial capacity generally coincides with the more sophisticated tools occasionally found with fossils.

The discovery of [[Turkana boy]] (''H. ergaster'') in 1984 evidenced that, despite its ''Homo sapiens''-like anatomy, ''ergaster'' may not have been capable of producing sounds comparable to modern human [[Speech communication|speech]]. It likely communicated in a [[Origin of language#Early Homo|proto-language]] lacking the fully developed structure of modern human language but more developed than the non-verbal communication used by [[chimpanzee]]s.<ref>{{cite book |author=Ruhlen, Merritt|title=The origin of language: tracing the evolution of the mother tongue |publisher=Wiley |location=New York |year=1994 |isbn=0-471-58426-6}}</ref> This inference is challenged by the find in [[Homo erectus#Homo erectus georgicus|Dmanisi]], Georgia, of an ''H. ergaster'' / ''erectus'' [[vertebra]]e (at least 150,000 years earlier than the Turkana Boy) that reflects vocal capabilities within the range of ''H. sapiens''.<ref name="Bower, Bruce 275–276"/> Both brain size and the presence of the [[Broca's area]] also support the use of articulate language.<ref>{{cite book|title=Origins Reconsidered|author=Richard Leakey|year=1992|publisher=Anchor|pages=257–258|isbn=0-385-41264-9}}</ref>

''H. erectus'' was probably the first hominin to live in small, familiar [[band societies|band-societies]] similar to modern hunter-gatherer band-societies;<ref>{{cite book |author=Boehm, Christopher |title=Hierarchy in the forest: the evolution of egalitarian behavior |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1999|isbn=0-674-39031-8|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ljxS8gUlgqgC&pg=PA198 |page=198}}</ref> and is thought to be the first hominin species to hunt in coordinated groups, to use complex tools, and to care for infirm or weak companions.

There has been debate as to whether ''H. erectus'',<ref name="Whitfield, John"/> and possibly the later [[Homo neanderthalensis|Neanderthal]]s,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/10/061030-neanderthals.html |title= Neanderthals, Modern Humans Interbred, Bone Study Suggests
 |work= National Geographic News |author= Owen, James |date=30 October 2006
 |accessdate=2008-01-14 }}</ref> may have interbred with [[anatomically modern human]]s in [[Europe]] and [[Asia]]. ''See'' [[Neanderthal admixture theory]].

==Descendants and subspecies==
''Homo erectus'' is the most, or one of the most, long-lived species of ''Homo'', having existed well over one million  years and perhaps over two million years; ''Homo sapiens'' has existed for about 200,000 years. If considering ''Homo erectus'' in its strict sense (that is, as referring to only the Asian variety) no consensus has been reached as to whether it is ancestral to ''H. sapiens'' or any later hominins (''see'' above, "Interpreting evolution: ...").
[[File:Homo erectus adult female - head model - Smithsonian Museum of Natural History - 2012-05-17.jpg|right|thumb|A model of the face of an adult female ''Homo erectus''. Reconstruction by [[John Gurche]], [[Smithsonian Museum of Natural History]], based on [[KNM ER 3733]] and [[KNM ER 992|992]].]]

===''Homo erectus''===
** ''[[Homo erectus erectus]]'' ([[Java Man]])
** ''[[Homo erectus yuanmouensis]]'' ([[Yuanmou Man]])
** ''[[Homo erectus lantianensis]]'' ([[Lantian Man]])
** ''[[Homo erectus nankinensis]]'' ([[Nanjing Man]])
** ''[[Homo erectus pekinensis]]'' ([[Peking Man]])
** ''[[Homo erectus palaeojavanicus]]'' ([[Meganthropus]])
** ''[[Homo erectus soloensis]]'' ([[Solo Man]])
** ''[[Homo erectus tautavelensis]]'' ([[Tautavel Man]])
** ''[[Homo erectus georgicus]]''

===Related species===
* ''[[Homo ergaster]]''
* ''[[Homo floresiensis]]''
* ''[[Homo antecessor]]''
* ''[[Homo heidelbergensis]]''
* ''[[Human|Homo sapiens]]''
** ''[[Homo sapiens idaltu]]''
** ''[[Homo sapiens sapiens]]''
* ''[[Neanderthal|Homo neanderthalensis]]''
* ''[[Homo rhodesiensis]]''
* ''[[Homo cepranensis]]''

===Previously referred taxa===
* ''[[Wushan Man|Homo erectus wushanensis]]'' (actually a stem-[[orangutan]])
The discovery of ''[[Homo floresiensis]]'' in 2003 and of the recentness of its extinction has raised the possibility that numerous descendant species of ''Homo erectus'' may have existed in the islands of [[Southeast Asia]] and await fossil discovery (see ''[[Orang Pendek]]''). ''Homo erectus soloensis'', who was long assumed to have lived on Java at least as late as about 50,000 years ago but was re-dated in 2011 to a much higher age,<ref>[http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Finding_showing_human_ancestor_older_than_previously_thought_offers_new_insights_into_evolution_999.html Finding showing human ancestor older than previously thought offers new insights into evolution], 5 July 2011.</ref> would be one of them. Some scientists are skeptical of the claim that ''Homo floresiensis'' is a descendant of ''Homo erectus''. One explanation holds that the fossils are of a modern human with [[microcephaly]], while another one holds that they are from a group of [[pygmies]].

==Individual fossils==
[[File:Pithecanthropus-erectus.jpg|thumb|Original fossils of ''Pithecanthropus erectus'' (now ''Homo erectus'') found in [[Java]] in 1891.]]
Some of the major ''Homo erectus'' fossils:
* Indonesia (island of Java): [[Trinil 2]] ([[holotype]]), [[Sangiran]] collection, Sambungmachan collection,<ref>{{cite journal  |vauthors=Delson E, Harvati K, Reddy D, etal |title=The Sambungmacan 3 Homo erectus calvaria: a comparative morphometric and morphological analysis |journal=The Anatomical Record |volume=262 |issue=4 |pages=380–97 |date=April 2001  |pmid=11275970 |doi=10.1002/ar.1048}}</ref> [[Solo Man|Ngandong collection]]
* China ("[[Peking Man]]"): Lantian (Gongwangling and Chenjiawo), Yunxian, [[Zhoukoudian]], Nanjing, [[Hexian]]
* Kenya: [[KNM ER 3883]], [[KNM ER 3733]]
* Vértesszőlős, Hungary "[[Samu (Homo erectus)|Samu]]"
* Vietnam: Northern, Tham Khuyen,<ref>{{cite journal  |vauthors=Ciochon R, Long VT, Larick R, etal |title=Dated co-occurrence of Homo erectus and Gigantopithecus from Tham Khuyen Cave, Vietnam |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=93 |issue=7 |pages=3016–20 |date=April 1996  |pmid=8610161 |pmc=39753 |url=http://www.pnas.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=8610161 |doi=10.1073/pnas.93.7.3016}}</ref> Hoa Binh{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}
* Republic of Georgia: Dmanisi collection ("[[Homo erectus georgicus]]")
* Ethiopia: [[Daka skull|Daka calvaria]]
* Eritrea: Buia cranium (possibly H. ergaster)<ref>http://archive.archaeology.org/9809/newsbriefs/eritrea.html{{full|date=October 2014}}</ref>
* [[Denizli Province]], Turkey: Kocabas fossil<ref>{{cite journal |author=Kappelman J, Alçiçek MC, Kazanci N, Schultz M, Ozkul M, Sen S |title=First Homo erectus from Turkey and implications for migrations into temperate Eurasia |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |volume=135 |issue=1 |pages=110–6 |date=January 2008  |pmid=18067194 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.20739}}</ref>

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery
| lines = 3
| align = center
|File:Homo erectus tautavelensis.jpg|''[[Homo erectus tautavelensis]]'' skull.
|File:Tautavel UK 2.JPG|Replica of lower jaws of ''Homo erectus'' from [[Tautavel]], [[France]].
|File:Calvaria Sangiran II (A).jpg|[[Calvaria (skull)|Calvaria]] "[[Sangiran]] II" Original, Collection [[Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald|Koenigswald]], [[Senckenberg Museum]].
|File:Homo erectus hand axe Daka Ethiopia.jpg|A reconstruction based on evidence from the [[Daka skull|Daka]] Member, Ethiopia
}}

==See also==
* ''[[Homo ergaster]]''
* [[Java Man]]
* [[Kozarnika]]

'''General:'''
* [[Dawn of Humanity (film)|''Dawn of Humanity'' (2015 PBS film)]]
* [[List of fossil sites]] ''(with link directory)''
* [[List of human evolution fossils]] ''(with images)''

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/origins/homo_erectus.php Homo erectus] Origins - Exploring the Fossil Record - Bradshaw Foundation
{{Commons category|Homo erectus}}
*[http://www.archaeologyinfo.com/homoerectus.htm Archaeology Info]
*[http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-erectus Homo erectus] – The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6937476.stm Possible co-existence with Homo Habilis] – BBC News
*[[John D. Hawks|John Hawks]]'s [http://johnhawks.net/weblog/fossils/middle/kocabas/kappelman_2007_kocabas_tuberculosis.html discussion of the Kocabas fossil]
*[http://www-personal.une.edu.au/~pbrown3/palaeo.html Peter Brown's Australian and Asian Palaeoanthropology]

{{Human Evolution}}
{{Prehistoric technology}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Homo Erectus}}
[[Category:Early species of Homo]]
[[Category:Pliocene primates]]
[[Category:Pleistocene primates]]
[[Category:Pleistocene mammals of Africa]]
[[Category:Fossil taxa described in 1892]]
[[Category:Prehistoric Indonesia]]
[[Category:Prehistoric China]]
[[Category:Prehistoric India]]
[[Category:Prehistoric Kenya]]
[[Category:Prehistoric Tanzania]]
[[Category:Prehistoric Hungary]]
[[Category:Prehistoric Vietnam]]
[[Category:Prehistoric Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Prehistoric Ethiopia]]
[[Category:Prehistoric Eritrea]]
[[Category:Prehistoric Anatolia]]
[[Category:Prehistoric Spain]]
[[Category:Prehistoric mammals of Asia]]
[[Category:Prehistoric mammals of Europe]]