Knowra Homo heidelbergensis Homo heidelbergensis Homo heidelbergensis is an extinct hominin species known from Middle Pleistocene fossils in Africa and Europe. Its classification and relationship to Neanderthals and modern humans remain disputed.
Mauer mandible : A 1907 fossil lower jaw from Mauer, Germany, designated the type specimen of Homo heidelbergensis. This jaw established the species name, though it preserves few features beyond the lower face.
Arago cave : A cave site at Tautavel, France, containing Middle Pleistocene hominin fossils and archaeological remains. Its Tautavel remains are among the European fossils often assigned to this species.
Homo antecessor : An extinct hominin species named from fossils at Atapuerca, Spain, dating to roughly 850,000 years ago. It is an earlier European species, not a synonym for the contested Middle Pleistocene taxon.
Mitochondrial DNA : DNA found in mitochondria, typically inherited through the maternal line in humans. DNA from Sima de los Huesos fossils helped establish their close relationship to Neanderthals.
Otto Schoetensack : A German anthropologist who named Homo heidelbergensis in 1908. He based the species on the Mauer mandible found near Heidelberg.
Middle Pleistocene : The interval from about 774,000 to 129,000 years ago within the Pleistocene epoch. Most fossils assigned to this species come from this interval.
Bodo cranium : A roughly 600,000-year-old hominin skull from Bodo D'ar, Ethiopia, bearing cut marks. This African fossil is frequently included in broader definitions of Homo heidelbergensis.
Homo rhodesiensis : A name proposed for Middle Pleistocene African hominins, especially the Kabwe skull. Some researchers use this name for African fossils otherwise grouped with Homo heidelbergensis.
Ancient DNA : Genetic material recovered from archaeological or fossil remains of past organisms. It can test evolutionary relationships that fossil shape alone leaves uncertain.
Daniel Hartmann : A German worker who discovered the Mauer mandible in 1907. His discovery supplied the fossil that later became the species' type specimen.
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