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| Species: | Homo habilis |
| Age: | 1.9 million years |
| Date of Discovery: | 1973 |
| Location: | Koobi Fora, Kenya |
| Discovered by: | Kamoya Kimeu |
KNM ER 1813, found a year after the KNM ER 1470, led to the debate over the exact nature of Homo. The discovery of ER 1470 solidified Homo habilis as a species, but the large cranium and big teeth of ER 1470 contrasted with the find of ER 1813. In ER 1813 was an individual from the same time period in the same region, yet having a small brain and diminutive teeth and face. The difference size was not a result of ER 1813 being immature at the time of death; the third molars were fully erupted and showed evidence of wear. Therefore, ER 1813 was fully mature at the time of his/her death.
The ER 1813 fossil is somewhat skewed on its left side, a result of the pressures the skull experienced during the fossilization process (you can see tis best in the phototgraph at the top). ER 1813 had a cranial capacity of only 510cc, well below the 600cc cutoff that had been in place since the creation of the Homo habilis species name. It is also not much larger than the average for Australopithecus. Although it differs markedly from ER 1470, ER 1813 can be compared and allied with many of the accepted Homo habilis specimens from Olduvai Gorge, for example OH 24. The similarities include overall size, smaller orbits, and projection of the face below the nose (sub-nasal prognathism). ER 1813 also exhibits a protruberance on the back of the skull (see bottom photograph: it is near the base of the skull and appears as a small ridge of bone crossing the skull from side to side) that some researchers claim may be the beginnings of the "transverse torus" of later Homo erectus.
