Rhodesian man
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Homo rhodesiensis Temporal range: , 0.4–0.12 Ma |
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| Skull found in 1921 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Family: | Hominidae |
| Tribe: | Hominini |
| Genus: | Homo |
| Species: | H. rhodesiensis |
| Binomial name | |
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†Homo rhodesiensis Woodward, 1921 |
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Homo rhodesiensis refers to an extinct hominin species of the genus Homo, first described in 1921 by Arthur Smith Woodward in reference to the Kabwe skull fossil recovered at Broken Hill, or Kabwe, in Zambia (once known as Northern Rhodesia). A number of morphologically-comparable fossil remains came to light in East Africa (Bodo, Ndutu, Eyasi, Ileret) and North Africa (Salé, Rabat, Dar-es-Soltane, Djbel Irhoud, Sidi Aberrahaman, Tighenif) during the 20th century and were classified as Homo rhodesiensis.
Smith Woodward decided the fossils represented an extinct hominid species as the "... thick skull, sloped forehead and giant brow ridges made the species distinct from living people". The finds were dated between 300,000 and 125,000 years BC. "However, this [African] group of fossils has [also] been known by many other now-obscure names", none ever having been accepted universally, including the taxon Homo rhodesiensis. The Saldanha cranium, found in 1954 in South Africa was subject to at least three taxonomic revisions from 1955 to 1996. Consensus is confined to informal taxonomic categories, such as "pre-modern".
Most scientists now regard Homo rhodesiensis as to be the local (African) representative of Homo heidelbergensis and as such the direct ancestor of anatomically modern humans.
Kabwe 1, also called the Broken Hill skull, was assigned by Arthur Smith Woodward in 1921 as the type specimen for Homo rhodesiensis; most contemporary scientists forego the taxon "rhodesiensis" altogether and assign it to Homo heidelbergensis. The cranium was found in a lead and zinc mine in Broken Hill, Northern Rhodesia (now Kabwe, Zambia) in 1921 by Tom Zwiglaar, a Swiss miner. In addition to the cranium, an upper jaw from another individual, a sacrum, a tibia, and two femur fragments were also found. The skull was dubbed "Rhodesian Man" at the time of the find, but is now commonly referred to as the Broken Hill skull or the Kabwe cranium.
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Wikipedia