Question

Homo erectus -- One Species or Multiple Species?:

Some hypothesize that Homo erectus should be subdivided into multiple species, others support a single species hypothesis with a broad geographic distribution and population variation. There is support for both hypotheses!!!

Which hypothesis do you support? and why?

What evidence would cause you to shift your support to the other hypothesis? and why?

For your answers, paleontological details (geography, diagnostic traits, geologic dates) count!

Answer 1

I believe that it is a single species, with a wide geographical distribution.

Homo erectus literally means "standing man, erect, straight." Homo erectus, is an extinct species of a hominid that lived between 1.8 million and 300,000 years ago (lower and middle Pleistocene) .Homo erectus averages between 1.30 and approximately 1.70 m high, and its cranial volume was 750 cc and 1250 cc, an increase of about 50% compared to its predecessor, Homo habilis, whose fossil skeletons date back to around 1.5 million years ago and they are mainly found in Africa, they lived in caves, produced and used very well elaborated tools (like hand axes) that represent the first instance in the fossil record of a conscious design, it is believed that they produced wooden tools and weapons, but they were not conserved, they were probably the first to use fire and to initiate a migration from Africa to different regions of the world.
The first Homo erectus found "Man of Java", was found by the Dutch Eugène Dubois (1858-1940) in his search for knowledge about the evolution of man. Shortly after the publication of Darwin's work, The Origin of Species in 1859, the German biologist and philosopher Ernest Haeckel proposed a theoretical genealogy of man in which he showed that an intermediate being was missing between the ape and man. In his book The natural history of creation published in 1868, he named this hypothetical creature Pithecanthropus. When Dubois discovered in 1891 a human fossil on the island of Java, in Indonesia; described the species as Pithecanthropus erectus (male - mono - erect), "man"), Pithecanthropus erectus found is also called "Man of Java", in 1891, he adopted the name of Haeckel, but he appointed him a new species Pitecantropus erectus (known currently as Homo erectus). The name of the genus is formed from the Greek roots ???????, píth?kos, "monkey" and ????????, anthropos, "man.
Differences between Homo erectus and Homo ergaster. Many paleoanthropologists continue to debate the definition of H. erectus and H. ergaster as separate species. Some call Homo ergaster the direct ancestor of Africa of Homo erectus, proposing that they migrated from Africa and branched into a distinct species in Asia "Homo erectus". Classical H. erectus lived in East Asia (China, Indonesia). In Africa, related fossil remains have been found that are often included in another species, Homo ergaster; also in Europe, various fossil remains have been classified as H. erectus, although the current trend is to reserve the name H. erectus for Asian fossils; the homo ergaster that can be considered the African erectus and probably the original species.

Culture and society of Homo erectus. Homo erectus was probably the first hominid to live in small, familiar societies similar to modern hunter-gatherer bands. It is believed that Homo erectus and Homo ergaster were the first hominids to hunt in groups to integrate, they used complex tools, and they had attentions for the sick and the weakest of the group. Richard Leakey: "Homo erectus was the first of the hominids to use fire, the first of which started hunting as an essential element to guarantee their food supply, the first one ran like a modern man." On the other hand , it was suggested that "H. erectus was the first hominid capable of using rafts to cross rivers, lakes and oceans, but the idea remains controversial.

However, I support the commencement comment of this response; In any case, given the greater number of research readings and scientific and anthropological evidence, one can not ignore the new findings of production and taking into account so many advanced technological advances in the 21st century.