The meaning of Homo

Bernard Wood, Mark Collard

Resumen


The taxonomic history of the genus Homo, up to the inclusion of Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis, is reviewed. The two main contemporary interpretations of the genus concept, that differ according to whether information about grade is used, and in the way a clade is interpreted, are presented. It is suggested that neither of these definitions is satisfactory, and a new definition, that a genus should be ‘a species, or monophylum whose members occupy a single adaptive zone’, is offered. For a newly discovered, or newly recognized, taxon to be included within an existing genus two criteria are suggested. First, the candidate species should belong to the same monophyletic group as the type species of the proposed genus. Second, the adaptive strategy of the candidate species should be closer to the adaptive strategy of the type species of the proposed genus than it is to the type species of any other genus. When applied to the taxa presently subsumed within Homo two taxa, H. habilis  and H. rudolfensis, fail the tests. It is suggested that at least one new genus, and probably two new genera, are needed to accommodate the taxa excluded from Homo.

 

Key words: Genus, Homo, grade, clade, Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, phylogenetic analysis, language, tool-making.

 


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