Hominids

Alyssa carter
Honors world history
9/17/09

Hominids

A hominid is a term that refers to the human members of the primates, both fossil and modern forms. Hominids have lived here as early as 7 million years ago. Today scientists and anthropologists have discovered many things about early hominids. Such as there remains, old tools, characteristics and the use of fire. Later hominids showed a greater range of intelligence. Over the course of 7 million years there’s been about 4 different groups of hominids. Australopithecines, homo habilis, homo erectus and homo sapiens.

Australopithecines were the earliest group of hominids. They were thought to lived only in Africa. Their structure or characteristics are very different from today’s homo sapiens. Homo habilis lived around 2 million years ago. Anthropologists have discovered many stone tools from their age. They used these tools for cutting scraping, chopping or sawing plants, animals or wood. Homo erectus   also lived around 2 million years ago. The Homo erectus were   known to be “upright walkers”. They were notable to have larger brains and bones for capabilities. They were the first to use fire, they also built one of the first hand ax’s. Scientists think around 250,000-100,000 years ago homo erectus disappeared and homo sapiens appeared. Soon after that Neanderthals arose then soon disappeared leaving the early modern humans the only hominids on earth.

The many different groups of hominids have a very wide range of capabilities, years, intelligence and characteristics. As the years went on and the different groups came about, the world changed. Not only by the different hominid groups but by their culture and how they lived. Hominids are proven to be the oldest set of living “humans” to have ever lived on earth. Scholars, scientists, and anthropologists continue to strive in learning about hominids. From the earliest to what we are now. Hominid history is a never ending story.