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= Bodo cranium = From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation		Jump to search The Bodo cranium[1] is a fossil of an extinct type of hominin species. It was found by members of an expedition led by Jon Kalb in 1976 at Bodo D'ar, Awash River valley of Ethiopia.[2] The initial discovery was by Alemayhew Asfaw and Charles Smart, a lower face. Two weeks later, Paul Whitehead and Craig Wood found the upper portion of the face. The skull is 600,000 years old[3] and is classified as Homo heidelbergensis (Homo rhodesiensis).[4] The cranium has an unusual appearance, which has led to debates over its taxonomy.[ clarification needed]

The cranium has an unusual appearance, which has led to debates over its taxonomy. It displays both primitive and derived features, such as a cranial capacity more similar to modern humans and a projecting supraorbital torus more like Homo erectus. undefined

Observation
This specimen has an unusually large cranial capacity for its age that is estimated at around 1250 cc (in the range between ∼1,200–1,325 cc) within the (lower) range of modern Homo sapiens.[5] The cranium includes the face, much of the frontal bone, parts of the midvault and the base anterior to the foramen magnum. The cranial length, width and height are 21 cm (8.3 in), 15.87 cm (6.2 in) and 19.05 cm (7.5 in) respectively. Researchers have suggested that Bodo butchered animals because Acheulean hand axes and cleavers, along with animal bones, were found at the site. The cranium has cut marks, which indicates that immediately after the death of this individual stone tools were used to remove the flesh from the bone.[2][6]

Evolutionary significance
This specimen displays both primitive and derived features, such as a cranial capacity more similar to modern humans and a projecting supraorbital torus more like Homo erectus, which has lead to debate over it's taxonomy.

The cranium has an unusual appearance, which has led to debates over its taxonomy. It displays both primitive and derived features, such as a cranial capacity more similar to modern humans and a projecting supraorbital torus more like Homo erectus. Bodo and other Mid-Pleistocene hominid fossils appear to represent a lineage between Homo erectus and anatomically modern humans, although it's exact location in the human evolutionary tree is still uncertain. The increased encephalization seen in fossils like the Bodo cranium is thought to have been a driving force in the speciation of anatomically modern humans.