Over the years researchers have proposed changes to the way H. erectus is interpreted.
Over the years researchers have proposed changes to the way H. erectus is interpreted. Some suggest that what they interpret as morphological continuity between H. erectus, pre-modern Homo and then Homo sapiens effectively invalidates the specific status of the former. Recent advocates of this course of action include Milford Wolpoff and colleagues,31 Phillip Tobias,32 and Darren Curnoe and Tobias.33 Others have suggested that the hypodigm of H. erectus should be expanded to include Homo habilis,34 but the method used to capture skull shape was so lacking in discrimination that it failed to separate Dmanisi 4 from a Neanderthal cranium, nor could it distinguish two crania belonging to Australopithecus africanus (Sts 71 and Sts 5) from crania (KNM-WT 15000 and KNM-ER 3733) belonging to early African H. erectus or H. ergaster.