History › Human origins › First hominins: apes that walk upright
Homo erectus
c. 1.9 million – c. 110,000 years ago· Event· Life & early humans
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
Homo erectus was the first human species with a body like ours and the first known to spread from Africa into Asia.
See it on the History map →What happened
Appearing in Africa about 1.9 million years ago, erectus was tall and long-legged, built for walking and running long distances, with a brain roughly two-thirds the size of ours. Groups reached Dmanisi in Georgia by 1.8 million years ago, and later China ('Peking Man') and Java ('Java Man'). They made hand axes and probably used fire. The last known population lived on Java until about 110,000 years ago.
Why it matters
The longest-lasting human species, about 1.8 million years, it carried human life across Africa and Asia and set the body plan we inherited.
How we know
Fossils such as Turkana Boy, a nearly complete 1.5-million-year-old skeleton from Kenya, plus Dmanisi skulls, Chinese and Javan finds, and countless hand axes. The Curious Life map covers it in depth.
Still debated
Whether African and Asian forms are one species or several (some call the African ones Homo ergaster) is debated, as is which erectus group led to us.
Inside this (1)
Connections (5)
▸First hominins: apes that walk upright gave rise to Homo erectusMostly agreed
The connection
Over several million years, African hominins branched into many species. One branch, the genus Homo, appeared about 2.8 million years ago with larger brains and more tool use. By about 1.9 million years ago it had produced Homo erectus, with long legs, a bigger body and a much larger brain.
When and how
East Africa, especially Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania, between about 3 and 1.9 million years ago.
How sure are we?
A sequence of dated fossils showing gradually larger brains and more human-like bodies, though the record is patchy.
Debates and open questions
Which species bridged the gap, Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis or another, and why bodies and brains grew, are actively debated.
▸Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis) is a possible ancestor of Homo erectusDebated
The connection
Lucy's species lived just before the genus Homo appeared, in the same part of East Africa, and has the right mix of traits to be its ancestor. If so, she belongs to a population ancestral to Homo erectus, and to us. But other candidates exist.
When and how
The Afar region of Ethiopia, where afarensis fossils about 3 million years old lie close in time and place to the earliest Homo jaw, about 2.8 million years old.
How sure are we?
Only indirect: anatomy, timing and location fit. No DNA survives from fossils this old, so ancestry is inferred from bone shapes.
Debates and open questions
Kenyanthropus, Australopithecus garhi and others are rival candidates, and some researchers think the human line branched off from a species not yet found.
▸Homo erectus probably mastered Control of fireDebated
The connection
The oldest accepted traces of controlled fire, about 1 million years ago, fall within Homo erectus's time and range, making it the most likely early fire user.
When and how
Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa, about 1 million years ago; Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel, about 780,000 years ago.
How sure are we?
Ash and burned bone deep in caves, where wildfire is unlikely. No fossils were found with the Wonderwerk ash, so the user's species is inferred from dates.
Debates and open questions
Primatologist Richard Wrangham's 'cooking hypothesis' argues that erectus's smaller teeth and gut, from about 1.9 million years ago, imply cooking, which needs fire far earlier than solid evidence shows.
▸Homo erectus was a likely ancestor of NeanderthalsMostly agreed
The connection
Populations descended from Homo erectus, or a close relative, spread through Africa and Eurasia. In Europe one population, often called Homo heidelbergensis, gradually evolved into Neanderthals. Bones from Spain's Sima de los Huesos, about 430,000 years old, already show early Neanderthal features.
When and how
Africa and Europe, roughly 1 million to 400,000 years ago; key site: the Sima de los Huesos ('Pit of Bones') at Atapuerca, northern Spain.
How sure are we?
Fossil anatomy, plus ancient DNA from Sima de los Huesos, among the oldest human DNA ever read, which links those people to Neanderthals.
Debates and open questions
The middle steps are murky: whether Homo heidelbergensis or Homo antecessor sits in between, and how many lineages there were, is debated.
▸Homo erectus was a likely ancestor of Homo sapiens: modern humansMostly agreed
The connection
In Africa, descendants of Homo erectus-like populations evolved bigger brains over hundreds of thousands of years. Genetics suggests the lines leading to us and to Neanderthals split roughly 550,000 to 750,000 years ago, and our African branch became Homo sapiens by about 300,000 years ago.
When and how
Africa, roughly 1 million to 300,000 years ago.
How sure are we?
African fossils of intermediate form, such as Bodo in Ethiopia, and DNA comparisons that date when lineages split.
Debates and open questions
African fossils from this period are scarce, and the exact chain of species, and whether Asian erectus groups contributed anything, are unclear.