Around 1.8 million years ago a new hominid, known as Homo erectus, appeared. Partially contemporary with H. habilis, H. erectus was much larger. Numerous and often well-preserved fossils give us a good picture of these early humans.
Their bodies were similar to ours but their heads were still very different. Massive ridges of bone formed their brows and their jaws protruded forward though their teeth were considerably smaller than those of earlier hominids.
Their brains were quite large, and increased in size through time, giving them the ability to conceptualize tools and plan such activities as hunting. Whereas earlier hominids ate plants and scavenged meat from carnivore kills, H. erectus probably also hunted game.
H. erectus inhabited much of Africa and rapidly spread as far as East Asia. Related hominids colonized Europe after 1 million years ago. Cultural adaptations made possible this move into cooler regions, including the use of natural shelters such as caves and the mastery of fire.
The relationship of the various populations of H. erectus to later H. sapiens - ourselves - is still hotly debated, though at least one line of H. erectus was ancestral to modern humans.
Recently, many scholars have decided that the hominids known as Homo erectus actually include two species: classic H. erectus in East Asia and their ancestor, H. ergaster, who originated in Africa, spreading from there to Europe as well as Asia, and probably giving rise eventually to Homo sapiens.
