What si the debate concering H. rudolfensis? Identify the feature that prompted this species differentiation.?

Question

What si the debate concering H. rudolfensis? Identify the feature that prompted this species differentiation.?

Answer 1

The debate, is that Louis Leakey got credited with finding a new sub-species of Homo, near Lake Rudolph, only because of a few minor differences in a single speciman (Slightly larger cranium than Homo hablis, although in a similar time frame/2-2.5 mya)...

Answer 2

The debate is if it is a different species and if the bones were put together right.  Some joker, sorry to show my prejudice, had a theory that the ratio of certain bones was always consistent.  That interpretation gave rudolfensis a smaller brain and made him more consistent with other habilis.  Unfortunately for their attempt at making a single species out of habilis, another recent find threw a monkey wrench in that idea.  That was the finding of habilis and erectus cohabitating 1.5 million years ago.  Not only is it very likely that rudolfensis may have been another species, but there may have been other habilis that were in fact other species.  It is kind of hard to figure out  the separation needed for species formation in only Africa and a very limited time frame so a lot of paleontologists don't like to acknowlege it.

Answer 3

When it comes to so few specimens (2 million years old?), one will always find debate as people tend to get wrapped up in their own theories and careers.

The feature of H. rudolfensis which is thought by some to be different than H. habilis is based upon a single specimen (KNM ER 1470) -- a skull.

Generally speaking, "Homo rudolfensis  had a flatter, broader face and broader postcanine teeth, with more complex crowns and roots, and thicker enamel. Rudolfensis is also recognized as having a larger cranium."

You can look at the details below:

Added:

Considering the sparse number of fossils from the time period in question and the lack of a complete specimen, it might be premature to argue with any intelligence about this differentiation.  There is a much wider amount of diversity in current Home sapiens skulls than what is being used as the basis for the debate.