Homo Erectus Were Tougher than Researchers Assumed

They were far more ecologically flexible than researchers realized

Hiya!

It’s well known that we, Homo sapiens, are the last remaining branch of the Human family tree going back millions of years. We like to let this fact boost our egos and boast that it means we’re the superior species. We may be in some ways, but science shows us that our hominin cousins were capable of far more than we give them credit for.

For instance, we used to portray Neanderthals as grunting, club-dragging, unintelligent cavemen. However, science shows they were compassionate, creative, skilled, and perceptive. Furthermore, our two species not only coexisted but also produced children together. Now, archaeologists are debunking previous assumptions made about another hominin species — Homo erectus.

Who Were Homo Erectus?

Coming onto the scene at least 1.9 million years ago, Homo erectus was, as the National History Museum describes them, a species of firsts.

Compared to previous hominin species, H. erectus (whom I shall henceforth refer to as Erectus) was the first of our hominin ancestors to have what we’d recognize as a human-like body, including longer legs and shorter arms in relation to their torsos. They also had bigger brains than other early humans, though they were smaller than ours.

By likely following migrating herbivores, Erectus became the first human species to leave Africa, ultimately spreading as far as China and Indonesia. Along the way, they became the first major innovators in stone tool technology, creating handaxes and cleavers about 1.76 million years ago, and they may have been the first to use and cook by fire.

They also take the prize for the longest-living human species. According to scientists, Erectus arose close to 2 million years ago and went extinct as recently as 108,000 years ago.

For perspective, we, Spaiens, have only been around for about 300,000 to 400,000 years, a fraction of Erectus’ reign. And considering what we’re doing to the planet, they’ll likely maintain the title.

So, aside from not instigating global climate change, how did Erectus survive for so long? Especially since previous research frequently concluded that only we, Spaiens, could adapt to multiple harsh environments like rainforests or deserts.

In a statement by Griffith University about new research I’ll tell you about next, Abel Shikoni of the University of Dodoma, Tanzania, explained that,

“Debate has long centered on when the genus Homo acquired the adaptability to thrive in extreme environments such as deserts and rainforests. Traditionally, only Homo sapiens was thought capable of sustained occupation in such ecosystems, with archaic hominins seen as restricted to narrower ranges.”

In other words, researchers thought that our ability to adapt to a wide range of climates, from barren deserts and frigid high altitudes to humid rainforests and everything in between, was unique to us. This ability has even been credited with explaining why we’re the last human species standing.

Yet, new research suggests Erectus was just as adaptable.

The Research

Researchers at the University of Calgary in Alberta and the University of Manitoba in Manitoba, both in Canada, led a multidisciplinary team of experts from 17 other institutions worldwide to study archaeological, geological, and paleoclimatic data from Engaji Nanyori in Oldupai Gorge, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Tanzania.

This site is a known archaeological treasure trove of H. erectus fossils, stone tools, butchered animal remains, and even fossilized pollen grains.

So, using a combination of archaeological evidence, biogeochemical analysis, biome modeling, chronometric dating, faunal assemblages, fire history reconstructions, palaeobotanical studies, and palaeoclimate simulations, the team reconstructed what the Oldupai Gorge looked like between 1.2 million and 1 million years ago.

The Results