ABSTRACT
The announcement that Homo habilis lived side by side with 'Zinjanthropus' in East Africa was not readily considered valid by most scientists. Many, led by Le Gros Clark and Robinson, maintained that what had been named Homo habilis was no more than a variant of Australopithecus. In particular, they tried to identify it with Australopithecus africanus, the so-called gracile species of Australopithecines. Leakey countered this suggestion by publishing photographs showing both the skull morphology of Homo habilis as well as the morphology of the mandibular arcade, viewed side by side with a variety of other hominid forms. Few, thereafter, doubted the validity of Homo habilis, since the contrasts were very striking. Tobias, moreover, published evidence on the brain morphology and teeth, which again stressed the Homo status of the new fossil. In 1967, additional finds representing Homo habilis were made by the USA party of the International Expedition to the Omo Valley in Ethiopia.
