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69-398: Hominina Gray 1825 sensu Andrew & Harrison 2005 The australopithecines , formally Australopithecina or Hominina , are generally any species in the related genera of Australopithecus and Paranthropus . It may also include members of Kenyanthropus , Ardipithecus , and Praeanthropus . The term comes from a former classification as members of a distinct subfamily,

138-531: A be designated a subtribe of Hominini to include only the genus Homo — that is, not including the earlier upright walking hominins of the Pliocene such as Australopithecus , Orrorin tugenensis , Ardipithecus , or Sahelanthropus . Designations alternative to Hominina existed, or were offered: Australopithecinae (Gregory & Hellman 1939) and Preanthropinae (Cela-Conde & Altaba 2002); and later, Cela-Conde and Ayala (2003) proposed that

207-607: A common ancestor. With the publication of Dmanisi skull 5 in 2013, it has become less certain that Asian H. erectus is a descendant of African H. ergaster which was in turn derived from H. habilis . Instead, H. ergaster and H. erectus appear to be variants of the same species, which may have originated in either Africa or Asia and widely dispersed throughout Eurasia (including Europe , Indonesia , China ) by 0.5 Mya. Homo erectus has often been assumed to have developed anagenetically from H. habilis from about 2 million years ago. This scenario

276-494: A forearm to upper arm ratio similar to the Golden Ratio – greater than other hominins. They exhibited greater sexual dimorphism than members of Homo or Pan but less so than Gorilla or Pongo . It is thought that they averaged heights of 1.2–1.5 metres (3.9–4.9 ft) and weighed between 30 and 55 kilograms (66 and 121 lb). The brain size may have been 350 cc to 600 cc. The postcanines (the teeth behind

345-612: A former classification as members of a distinct subfamily, the Australopithecinae. Members of Australopithecus are sometimes referred to as the "gracile australopithecines", while Paranthropus are called the "robust australopithecines". The australopithecines occurred in the Late Miocene sub-epoch and were bipedal , and they were dentally similar to humans, but with a brain size not much larger than that of modern non-human apes , with lesser encephalization than in

414-407: A genus is determined by taxonomists . The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. There are some general practices used, however, including the idea that a newly defined genus should fulfill these three criteria to be descriptively useful: Moreover, genera should be composed of phylogenetic units of

483-651: A later homonym of a validly published name is a nomen illegitimum or nom. illeg. ; for a full list refer to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants and the work cited above by Hawksworth, 2010. In place of the "valid taxon" in zoology, the nearest equivalent in botany is " correct name " or "current name" which can, again, differ or change with alternative taxonomic treatments or new information that results in previously accepted genera being combined or split. Prokaryote and virus codes of nomenclature also exist which serve as

552-628: A long time and redescribed as new by a range of subsequent workers, or if a range of genera previously considered separate taxa have subsequently been consolidated into one. For example, the World Register of Marine Species presently lists 8 genus-level synonyms for the sperm whale genus Physeter Linnaeus, 1758, and 13 for the bivalve genus Pecten O.F. Müller, 1776. Within the same kingdom, one generic name can apply to one genus only. However, many names have been assigned (usually unintentionally) to two or more different genera. For example,

621-507: A period of coexistence. In 1957, an Early Pleistocene Chinese fossil tooth of unknown province was described as resembling P. robustus . Three fossilized molars from Jianshi , China (Longgudong Cave) were later identified as belonging to an Australopithecus species. However further examination questioned this interpretation; Zhang (1984) argued the Jianshi teeth and unidentified tooth belong to H. erectus . Liu et al . (2010) also dispute

690-497: A possible 100,000 to 1000 individuals) occurred "around 930,000 and 813,000 years ago ... lasted for about 117,000 years and brought human ancestors close to extinction." Weiss (1984) estimated that there have been about 44 billion (short scale) members of the genus Homo from its origins to the evolution of H. erectus , about 56 billion individuals from H. erectus to the Neolithic , and another 51 billion individuals since

759-409: A reference for designating currently accepted genus names as opposed to others which may be either reduced to synonymy, or, in the case of prokaryotes, relegated to a status of "names without standing in prokaryotic nomenclature". An available (zoological) or validly published (botanical) name that has been historically applied to a genus but is not regarded as the accepted (current/valid) name for

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828-407: A single extant species, Homo sapiens (modern humans), along with a number of extinct species (collectively called archaic humans ) classified as either ancestral or closely related to modern humans; these include Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalensis . The oldest member of the genus is Homo habilis , with records of just over 2 million years ago. Homo , together with

897-684: A steady rise in cranial capacity is observed already in Autralopithecina and does not terminate after the emergence of Homo , so that it does not serve as an objective criterion to define the emergence of the genus. Homo habilis emerged about 2.1 Mya. Already before 2010, there were suggestions that H. habilis should not be placed in the genus Homo but rather in Australopithecus . The main reason to include H. habilis in Homo , its undisputed tool use, has become obsolete with

966-427: A taxon; however, the names published in suppressed works are made unavailable via the relevant Opinion dealing with the work in question. In botany, similar concepts exist but with different labels. The botanical equivalent of zoology's "available name" is a validly published name . An invalidly published name is a nomen invalidum or nom. inval. ; a rejected name is a nomen rejiciendum or nom. rej. ;

1035-455: A total of c. 520,000 published names (including synonyms) as at end 2019, increasing at some 2,500 published generic names per year. "Official" registers of taxon names at all ranks, including genera, exist for a few groups only such as viruses and prokaryotes, while for others there are compendia with no "official" standing such as Index Fungorum for fungi, Index Nominum Algarum and AlgaeBase for algae, Index Nominum Genericorum and

1104-405: Is a serious problem. Another problem presents itself in the fact that it has been very difficult to assess which hominid [now "hominin"] represents the first member of the genus Homo . Without knowing this, it is not possible to determine which species of australopithecine may have been ancestral to Homo . Marc Verhaegen has argued that an australopithecine species could have also been ancestral to

1173-424: Is ancestral to the genus Homo is a question that is a top priority for many paleoanthropologists, but one that will likely elude any conclusive answers for years to come. Nearly every possible species has been suggested as a likely candidate, but none are overwhelmingly convincing. Presently, it appears that A. garhi has the potential to occupy this coveted place in paleoanthropology, but the lack of fossil evidence

1242-612: Is discouraged by both the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants , there are some five thousand such names in use in more than one kingdom. For instance, A list of generic homonyms (with their authorities), including both available (validly published) and selected unavailable names, has been compiled by the Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera (IRMNG). The type genus forms

1311-455: Is likely that Homo sapiens (anatomically modern humans) has been the only extant species of Homo . John Edward Gray (1825) was an early advocate of classifying taxa by designating tribes and families. Wood and Richmond (2000) proposed that Hominini ("hominins") be designated as a tribe that comprised all species of early humans and pre-humans ancestral to humans back to after the chimpanzee–human last common ancestor , and that Hominin

1380-533: Is no consensus as to which gave rise to Homo . Especially since the 2010s, the delineation of Homo in Australopithecus has become more contentious. Traditionally, the advent of Homo has been taken to coincide with the first use of stone tools (the Oldowan industry), and thus by definition with the beginning of the Lower Palaeolithic . But in 2010, evidence was presented that seems to attribute

1449-460: Is somewhat arbitrary. Although all species within a genus are supposed to be "similar", there are no objective criteria for grouping species into genera. There is much debate among zoologists about whether enormous, species-rich genera should be maintained, as it is extremely difficult to come up with identification keys or even character sets that distinguish all species. Hence, many taxonomists argue in favor of breaking down large genera. For instance,

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1518-1364: Is still highly controversial. Approximate radiation dates of daughter clades are shown in millions of years ago (Mya). Sahelanthropus and Orrorin , possibly sisters to Australopithecus , are not shown here. The naming of groupings is sometimes muddled as often certain groupings are presumed before any cladistic analysis is performed. Hylobatidae (gibbons) Ponginae (orangutans) Gorillini (gorillas) Panina (chimpanzees) Australopithecines (incl. Australopithecus , Kenyanthropus , Paranthropus , Homo ) Cladogram based on Dembo et al. (2016): Ardipithecus ramidus (†) Australopithecus anamensis s.s. (†3.8) Australopithecus afarensis (†) Australopithecus garhi (†) Australopithecus deyiremeda (†3.4) Kenyanthropus platyops (†3.3) Australopithecus africanus (†2.1) Paranthropus (†1.2) Homo habilis (†1.5) [REDACTED] Homo rudolfensis (†1.9) [REDACTED] Homo ergaster (†1.4) [REDACTED] African Homo erectus s.s. (†) [REDACTED] Asian Homo erectus s.s. (†0.1) [REDACTED] Homo antecessor [REDACTED] (†0.8) H. neanderthalensis (†0.05) [REDACTED] Denisova people (†0.05) Homo sapiens [REDACTED] Australopithecus sediba (†2.0) Homo floresiensis (†0.05) Several of

1587-474: Is the type species , and the generic name is permanently associated with the type specimen of its type species. Should the specimen turn out to be assignable to another genus, the generic name linked to it becomes a junior synonym and the remaining taxa in the former genus need to be reassessed. In zoological usage, taxonomic names, including those of genera, are classified as "available" or "unavailable". Available names are those published in accordance with

1656-621: The Homo lineages appear to have surviving progeny through introgression into other lines. Genetic evidence indicates an archaic lineage separating from the other human lineages 1.5 million years ago, perhaps H. erectus , may have interbred into the Denisovans about 55,000 years ago. Fossil evidence shows H. erectus s.s. survived at least until 117,000 yrs ago, and the even more basal H. floresiensis survived until 50,000 years ago. A 1.5-million-year H. erectus -like lineage appears to have made its way into modern humans through

1725-621: The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ; the earliest such name for any taxon (for example, a genus) should then be selected as the " valid " (i.e., current or accepted) name for the taxon in question. Consequently, there will be more available names than valid names at any point in time; which names are currently in use depending on the judgement of taxonomists in either combining taxa described under multiple names, or splitting taxa which may bring available names previously treated as synonyms back into use. "Unavailable" names in zoology comprise names that either were not published according to

1794-824: The International Plant Names Index for plants in general, and ferns through angiosperms, respectively, and Nomenclator Zoologicus and the Index to Organism Names for zoological names. Totals for both "all names" and estimates for "accepted names" as held in the Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera (IRMNG) are broken down further in the publication by Rees et al., 2020 cited above. The accepted names estimates are as follows, broken down by kingdom: The cited ranges of uncertainty arise because IRMNG lists "uncertain" names (not researched therein) in addition to known "accepted" names;

1863-419: The nomenclature codes , which allow each species a single unique name that, for animals (including protists ), plants (also including algae and fungi ) and prokaryotes ( bacteria and archaea ), is Latin and binomial in form; this contrasts with common or vernacular names , which are non-standardized, can be non-unique, and typically also vary by country and language of usage. Except for viruses ,

1932-404: The platypus belongs to the genus Ornithorhynchus although George Shaw named it Platypus in 1799 (these two names are thus synonyms ) . However, the name Platypus had already been given to a group of ambrosia beetles by Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst in 1793. A name that means two different things is a homonym . Since beetles and platypuses are both members of the kingdom Animalia,

2001-585: The Australopithecinae. They are classified within the Australopithecina subtribe of the Hominini tribe . These related species are sometimes collectively termed australopithecines , australopiths or homininans . They are the extinct, close relatives of modern humans and, together with the extant genus Homo , comprise the human clade . Members of the human clade, i.e. the Hominini after

2070-555: The Denisovans and specifically into the Papuans and aboriginal Australians. The genomes of non-sub-Saharan African humans show what appear to be numerous independent introgression events involving Neanderthal and in some cases also Denisovans around 45,000 years ago. The genetic structure of some sub-Saharan African groups seems to be indicative of introgression from a west Eurasian population some 3,000 years ago. Some evidence suggests that Australopithecus sediba could be moved to

2139-610: The Jianshi–australopithecine link and argue the Jianshi molars fall within the range of Homo erectus : No marked difference in dental crown shape is shown between the Jianshi hominin and other Chinese Homo erectus , and there is also no evidence in support of the Jianshi hominin's closeness to Australopithecus . However, Wolpoff (1999) notes that in China "persistent claims of australopithecine or australopithecine-like remains continue". Genus The composition of

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2208-596: The Neolithic. This provides the opportunity for an immense amount of new mutational variation to have arisen during human evolution. A separate South African species Homo gautengensis has been postulated as contemporary with H. erectus in 2010. A taxonomy of Homo within the great apes is assessed as follows, with Paranthropus and Homo emerging within Australopithecus (shown here cladistically granting Paranthropus , Kenyanthropus , and Homo ). The exact phylogeny within Australopithecus

2277-464: The ambiguity of classifying groups as incertae sedis (uncertain placement)—for example, H. neanderthalensis vs. H. sapiens neanderthalensis , or H. georgicus vs. H. erectus georgicus . Some recently extinct species in the genus have been discovered only lately and do not as yet have consensus binomial names (see Denisova hominin ). Since the beginning of the Holocene , it

2346-442: The base for higher taxonomic ranks, such as the family name Canidae ("Canids") based on Canis . However, this does not typically ascend more than one or two levels: the order to which dogs and wolves belong is Carnivora ("Carnivores"). The numbers of either accepted, or all published genus names is not known precisely; Rees et al., 2020 estimate that approximately 310,000 accepted names (valid taxa) may exist, out of

2415-547: The canines) were relatively large, and had more enamel compared to contemporary apes and humans, whereas the incisors and canines were relatively small, and there was little difference between the males' and females' canines compared to modern apes. Most scientists maintain that the genus Homo emerged in Africa within the australopithecines around two million years ago. However, there is no consensus on within which species: Determining which species of australopithecine (if any)

2484-475: The conclusion that the recognition of australopithecines in Asia would not confuse but could help to clarify the early evolution of hominids ["hominins"] on that continent. This concept would explain the scanty remains from Java and China as relic of an Asian offshoot of an early radiation of Australopithecus , which was followed much later by an [African] immigration of Homo erectus , and finally became extinct after

2553-492: The decades of the 20th century, fossil finds of pre-human and early human species from late Miocene and early Pliocene times produced a rich mix for debating classifications. There is continuing debate on delineating Homo from Australopithecus —or, indeed, delineating Homo from Pan . Even so, classifying the fossils of Homo coincides with evidence of: (1) competent human bipedalism in Homo habilis inherited from

2622-460: The development of Homo close to or even past 3 Mya. This finds support in a recent phylogenetic study in hominins that by using morphological, molecular and radiometric information, dates the emergence of Homo at 3.3 Ma (4.30 – 2.56 Ma). Others have voiced doubt as to whether Homo habilis should be included in Homo , proposing an origin of Homo with Homo erectus at roughly 1.9 Mya instead. The most salient physiological development between

2691-409: The discovery of Australopithecus tool use at least a million years before H. habilis . Furthermore, H. habilis was long thought to be the ancestor of the more gracile Homo ergaster ( Homo erectus ). In 2007, it was discovered that H. habilis and H. erectus coexisted for a considerable time, suggesting that H. erectus is not immediately derived from H. habilis but instead from

2760-495: The earlier Australopithecus of more than four million years ago, as demonstrated by the Laetoli footprints ; and (2)  human tool culture having begun by 2.5 million years ago to 3 million years ago. From the late-19th to mid-20th centuries, a number of new taxonomic names, including new generic names, were proposed for early human fossils; most have since been merged with Homo in recognition that Homo erectus

2829-415: The earlier australopithecine species and Homo is the increase in endocranial volume (ECV), from about 460 cm (28 cu in) in A. garhi to 660 cm (40 cu in) in H. habilis and further to 760 cm (46 cu in) in H. erectus , 1,250 cm (76 cu in) in H. heidelbergensis and up to 1,760 cm (107 cu in) in H. neanderthalensis . However,

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2898-476: The earth, the boundaries and definitions of the genus have been poorly defined and constantly in flux. Because there was no reason to think it would ever have any additional members, Carl Linnaeus did not even bother to define Homo when he first created it for humans in the 18th century. The discovery of Neanderthal brought the first addition. The genus Homo was given its taxonomic name to suggest that its member species can be classified as human. And, over

2967-412: The emergence of H. erectus , so that the evolution of H. erectus would not have been anagenetically, and H. erectus would have existed alongside H. habilis for about half a million years ( 1.9 to 1.4 million years ago ), during the early Calabrian . On 31 August 2023, researchers reported, based on genetic studies, that a human ancestor population bottleneck (from

3036-446: The form "author, year" in zoology, and "standard abbreviated author name" in botany. Thus in the examples above, the genus Canis would be cited in full as " Canis Linnaeus, 1758" (zoological usage), while Hibiscus , also first established by Linnaeus but in 1753, is simply " Hibiscus L." (botanical usage). Each genus should have a designated type , although in practice there is a backlog of older names without one. In zoology, this

3105-450: The four genera Australopithecus , Ardipithecus , Praeanthropus , and Sahelanthropus be grouped with Homo within Hominini (sans Pan ). Several species, including Australopithecus garhi , Australopithecus sediba , Australopithecus africanus , and Australopithecus afarensis , have been proposed as the ancestor or sister of the Homo lineage. These species have morphological features that align them with Homo , but there

3174-737: The generic name (or its abbreviated form) still forms the leading portion of the scientific name, for example, Canis lupus lupus for the Eurasian wolf subspecies, or as a botanical example, Hibiscus arnottianus ssp. immaculatus . Also, as visible in the above examples, the Latinised portions of the scientific names of genera and their included species (and infraspecies, where applicable) are, by convention, written in italics . The scientific names of virus species are descriptive, not binomial in form, and may or may not incorporate an indication of their containing genus; for example,

3243-407: The generic sense of "human being, mankind". The binomial name Homo sapiens was coined by Carl Linnaeus (1758). Names for other species of the genus were introduced from the second half of the 19th century ( H. neanderthalensis 1864, H. erectus 1892). The genus Homo has not been strictly defined, even today. Since the early human fossil record began to slowly emerge from

3312-492: The genus Pan (i.e. chimpanzees). A minority view among palaeoanthropologists is that australopithecines moved outside Africa. One proponent of this theory is Jens Lorenz Franzen , formerly Head of Paleoanthropology at the Research Institute Senckenberg . Franzen argued that robust australopithecines had reached not only Indonesia, as Meganthropus , but also China: In this way we arrive at

3381-555: The genus Paranthropus , is probably most closely related to the species Australopithecus africanus within Australopithecus . The closest living relatives of Homo are of the genus Pan ( chimpanzees and bonobos ), with the ancestors of Pan and Homo estimated to have diverged around 5.7-11 million years ago during the Late Miocene . H. erectus appeared about 2 million years ago and spread throughout Africa (debatably as another species called Homo ergaster ) and Eurasia in several migrations . The species

3450-501: The genus Homo , or placed in its own genus, due to its position with respect to e.g. H. habilis and H. floresiensis . By about 1.8 million years ago, H. erectus is present in both East Africa ( H. ergaster ) and in Western Asia ( H. georgicus ). The ancestors of Indonesian H. floresiensis may have left Africa even earlier. Homo erectus and related or derived archaic human species over

3519-945: The genus Homo . Humans (genus Homo ) may have descended from australopithecine ancestors and the genera Ardipithecus , Orrorin , Sahelanthropus , and Graecopithecus are the possible ancestors of the australopithecines. Classification of subtribe Australopithecina according to Briggs & Crowther 2008 , p. 124. Phylogeny of Hominina/Australopithecina according to Dembo et al . (2016). Sahelanthropus tchadensis Ardipithecus Australopithecus anamensis Australopithecus afarensis Australopithecus garhi Kenyanthropus platyops Plesianthropus transvaalensis ( Australopithecus africanus ) Paranthropus aethiopicus Paranthropus robustus Paranthropus boisei Homo (including "Australopithecus" sediba ) The post-cranial remains of australopithecines show they were adapted to bipedal locomotion , but did not walk identically to humans. They had

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3588-633: The largest component, with 23,236 ± 5,379 accepted genus names, of which 20,845 ± 4,494 are angiosperms (superclass Angiospermae). By comparison, the 2018 annual edition of the Catalogue of Life (estimated >90% complete, for extant species in the main) contains currently 175,363 "accepted" genus names for 1,744,204 living and 59,284 extinct species, also including genus names only (no species) for some groups. The number of species in genera varies considerably among taxonomic groups. For instance, among (non-avian) reptiles , which have about 1180 genera,

3657-418: The lizard genus Anolis has been suggested to be broken down into 8 or so different genera which would bring its ~400 species to smaller, more manageable subsets. Homo For other species or subspecies suggested, see below . Homo (from Latin homō  'human') is a genus of great ape (family Hominidae) that emerged from the genus Australopithecus and encompasses only

3726-403: The most (>300) have only 1 species, ~360 have between 2 and 4 species, 260 have 5–10 species, ~200 have 11–50 species, and only 27 genera have more than 50 species. However, some insect genera such as the bee genera Lasioglossum and Andrena have over 1000 species each. The largest flowering plant genus, Astragalus , contains over 3,000 species. Which species are assigned to a genus

3795-428: The name could not be used for both. Johann Friedrich Blumenbach published the replacement name Ornithorhynchus in 1800. However, a genus in one kingdom is allowed to bear a scientific name that is in use as a generic name (or the name of a taxon in another rank) in a kingdom that is governed by a different nomenclature code. Names with the same form but applying to different taxa are called "homonyms". Although this

3864-541: The provisions of the ICZN Code, e.g., incorrect original or subsequent spellings, names published only in a thesis, and generic names published after 1930 with no type species indicated. According to "Glossary" section of the zoological Code, suppressed names (per published "Opinions" of the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature) remain available but cannot be used as the valid name for

3933-470: The same kind as other (analogous) genera. The term "genus" comes from Latin genus , a noun form cognate with gignere ('to bear; to give birth to'). The Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus popularized its use in his 1753 Species Plantarum , but the French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656–1708) is considered "the founder of the modern concept of genera". The scientific name (or

4002-408: The scientific epithet) of a genus is also called the generic name ; in modern style guides and science, it is always capitalised. It plays a fundamental role in binomial nomenclature , the system of naming organisms , where it is combined with the scientific name of a species : see Botanical name and Specific name (zoology) . The rules for the scientific names of organisms are laid down in

4071-516: The so-called Southern Dispersal , beginning about 70–50,000 years ago, leading to the lasting colonisation of Eurasia and Oceania by 50,000 years ago. H. sapiens met and interbred with archaic humans in Africa and in Eurasia. Separate archaic (non- sapiens ) human species including Neanderthals are thought to have survived until around 40,000 years ago. The Latin noun homō (genitive hominis ) means "human being" or " man " in

4140-497: The specific name particular to the wolf. A botanical example would be Hibiscus arnottianus , a particular species of the genus Hibiscus native to Hawaii. The specific name is written in lower-case and may be followed by subspecies names in zoology or a variety of infraspecific names in botany . When the generic name is already known from context, it may be shortened to its initial letter, for example, C. lupus in place of Canis lupus . Where species are further subdivided,

4209-510: The split from the chimpanzees, are called Hominina ( see Hominidae; terms "hominids" and hominins ). While none of the groups normally directly assigned to this group survived, the australopithecines do not appear to be literally extinct (in the sense of having no living descendants) as the genera Kenyanthropus , Paranthropus and Homo probably emerged as sister of a late Australopithecus species such as A. africanus and/or A. sediba . The terms australopithecines, et. al., come from

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4278-412: The standard format for a species name comprises the generic name, indicating the genus to which the species belongs, followed by the specific epithet, which (within that genus) is unique to the species. For example, the gray wolf 's scientific name is Canis lupus , with Canis ( Latin for 'dog') being the generic name shared by the wolf's close relatives and lupus (Latin for 'wolf') being

4347-403: The taxon is termed a synonym ; some authors also include unavailable names in lists of synonyms as well as available names, such as misspellings, names previously published without fulfilling all of the requirements of the relevant nomenclatural code, and rejected or suppressed names. A particular genus name may have zero to many synonyms, the latter case generally if the genus has been known for

4416-451: The use of stone tools to Australopithecus afarensis around 3.3 million years ago, close to a million years before the first appearance of Homo . LD 350-1 , a fossil mandible fragment dated to 2.8 Mya, discovered in 2013 in Afar, Ethiopia , was described as combining "primitive traits seen in early Australopithecus with derived morphology observed in later Homo . Some authors would push

4485-576: The values quoted are the mean of "accepted" names alone (all "uncertain" names treated as unaccepted) and "accepted + uncertain" names (all "uncertain" names treated as accepted), with the associated range of uncertainty indicating these two extremes. Within Animalia, the largest phylum is Arthropoda , with 151,697 ± 33,160 accepted genus names, of which 114,387 ± 27,654 are insects (class Insecta). Within Plantae, Tracheophyta (vascular plants) make up

4554-429: The virus species " Salmonid herpesvirus 1 ", " Salmonid herpesvirus 2 " and " Salmonid herpesvirus 3 " are all within the genus Salmonivirus ; however, the genus to which the species with the formal names " Everglades virus " and " Ross River virus " are assigned is Alphavirus . As with scientific names at other ranks, in all groups other than viruses, names of genera may be cited with their authorities, typically in

4623-538: Was a single species with a large geographic spread of early migrations. Many such names are now regarded as " synonyms " with Homo , including Pithecanthropus , Protanthropus , Sinanthropus , Cyphanthropus , Africanthropus , Telanthropus , Atlanthropus , and Tchadanthropus . Classifying the genus Homo into species and subspecies is subject to incomplete information and remains poorly done. This has led to using common names ("Neanderthal" and "Denisovan"), even in scientific papers, to avoid trinomial names or

4692-545: Was adaptive and successful, and persisted for more than a million years before gradually diverging into new species around 500,000 years ago. Anatomically modern humans ( H. sapiens ) emerged close to 300,000 to 200,000 years ago in Africa, and H. neanderthalensis emerged around the same time in Europe and Western Asia . H. sapiens dispersed from Africa in several waves , from possibly as early as 250,000 years ago, and certainly by 130,000 years ago, with

4761-697: Was strengthened with the discovery of Homo erectus georgicus , early specimens of H. erectus found in the Caucasus , which seemed to exhibit transitional traits with H. habilis . As the earliest evidence for H. erectus was found outside of Africa, it was considered plausible that H. erectus developed in Eurasia and then migrated back to Africa. Based on fossils from the Koobi Fora Formation, east of Lake Turkana in Kenya, Spoor et al. (2007) argued that H. habilis may have survived beyond

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