Homo gautengensis

Homo gautengensis is a proposed extinct hominin species based on fossils from South Africa. Its distinction from other early Homo and australopith fossils remains disputed.

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StW 53: A fossil cranium from Sterkfontein Cave, South Africa, assigned to Homo gautengensis by its proposer. This skull is among the principal fossils used to define the proposed species.
Homo habilis: An early African Homo species known mainly from fossils dated to about 2.4–1.4 million years ago. Some fossils assigned to Homo gautengensis have also been classified as Homo habilis.
Darren Curnoe: An Australian paleoanthropologist who proposed Homo gautengensis in 2010. Curnoe named the species by grouping fossils he judged to represent a distinct South African hominin.
Hominin taxonomy: The classification of living and extinct members of the human evolutionary lineage. Whether Homo gautengensis is a valid species is fundamentally a taxonomic judgment.
Sterkfontein: A South African cave site that has yielded hominin fossils spanning several geological periods. Its fossils include specimens attributed to Homo gautengensis and other hominins.
Homo erectus: An early human species that spread across Africa and Eurasia and persisted for nearly two million years. The proposed species has sometimes been compared with early Homo erectus in classification debates.
Paleoanthropology: The study of human evolution through fossils, archaeology, and related evidence. The species proposal is a case of paleoanthropological classification based on fragmentary remains.
Fossil hominin dating: Methods for estimating the ages of hominin fossils and the deposits containing them. Dating helps determine whether fossils grouped under the name belong to compatible periods.
Drimolen: A South African fossil site in the Cradle of Humankind with hominin remains and stone tools. Fossils from this site have also been assigned to the proposed species.
Australopithecus africanus: An extinct South African hominin known from fossils including the Taung Child and specimens from Sterkfontein. Some fossils placed in Homo gautengensis may instead belong to australopiths.