The specimen of Homo habilis shown here is KNM-ER 1470 from Koobi Fora on the eastern side of Lake Turkana.

Homo habilis

Homo habilis was first defined by Louis Leakey and colleagues in 1964 to account for a collection of fossil remains found in Olduvai Gorge; see [Boyd & Silk 1997] , pp 373-377.

The collection included bits ofcranium, a mandible, some hand bones, most of a foot, and a clavicle from what was probably the same immature individual.

The foot of Homo habilis was small by modern standards, butunmistakably adapted for bipedal walking.

The hand also was that of a manually dextrous creature - hence "Homo habilis", which means "handy man".

Subsequently, early stone tools were found that are reasonably interpreted as the work of Homo habilis; see [Boyd & Silk 1997] , pp 377-385.

As well as the Olduvai specimens, fossils of the same species have also been found at Koobi Fora, Omo and Sterkfontein.