Flexi Says: The species called Homo erectus first shows up in the fossil record in East Africa about 1.9 million years ago, having evolved from Homo habilis or australopithecines. Homo erectus had a bigger brain than Homo habilis and made more advanced stone tools. Homo erectus was also the first human to leave Africa (1.8 million years ago) and control fire (1.5 million years ago). Homo erectus eventually spread throughout Eurasia before evolving into Homo heidelbergensis, starting around 800 thousand years ago.
