Homo habilis skull discovered in Koobi Fora, Kenya in 1964. This fossil specimen dates from 2.44 to 1.34 million years ago. H. habilis is one of several extinct hominin species that form an early part of the human evolutionary tree. It lived in East Africa during the Pleistocene and had a brain size just less than half that of modern humans. The name Homo habilis means 'handy man', adopted because the species used primitive stone tools.