samples of living hominoid rapacities. Hence, I reiterate that at this 

 stage of our knowledge 370 to 618 c.c. represents the most reliable 

 estimate of the population range for Australopithecus africanus. 



FOUR 



9 THE CRANIAL CAPACITY 



Jj OF HOMO HABILIS 



Much controversy has been aroused since the publication in 1964 

 of a preliminary account of some new Olduvai remains that Leakey, 

 Tobias, and Napier used as the type for a new hominid species, Homo 

 habilis. ("Habilis" is a Latin word meaning "able, handy, mentally skill- 

 ful, vigorous." The suitability of this word to designate a group that 

 was probably responsible for the first systematic cultural stone tool- 

 making will emerge later. The name was suggested to us by Professor 

 Dart.) 



It is not proposed here to enter into a detailed account of the contro- 

 versy that has arisen around the taxonomic and phylogenetic position of the 

 group of fossils allocated to this new taxon, nor into a discussion on its 

 systematics. Such are at present largely premature, since no detailed and 

 definitive account has yet been published of the specimens— these are to 

 be featured prominently in a new volume of the Olduvai Gorge series. 

 Much of the controversy and theorizing around the specimen is misplaced 

 effort before the monographic treatment of the specimens is published. 



What is relevant for this volume, however, is the fact that it has been 

 claimed that the larger endocranial capacity of H. habilis is one of the 

 criteria distinguishing it from the australopithecines. 



The cranial capacity of the type specimen of 

 Homo habilis 



On February 25, 1961, Dr. L. S. B. Leakey announced the discovery 

 of the greater part of a juvenile hominid mandible, as well as parts of 2 

 beautifully preserved and undistorted parietal bones (Figure 14). The 

 remains were found at a slightly lower level than Olduvai Hominid 5 

 (originally called Zinjanthropus), and so for some years, during the study of 



* 60 



