During the period 2.5–1.0 mya a. there was one widespread species of hominin, homo erectus, with so much variation that early anthropologists thought there were several species existing side by side. b. several hominins, including but not limited to homo erectus, homo habilis, and various australopithecine species, were alive at overlapping time periods, just as earlier periods saw several species of australopithecine alive at once. c. there were two species of early hominin, homo habilis living in africa and homo erectus living in asia. d. the great diversity of hominins known from earlier periods was quickly trimmed down so only homo erectus existed, alone, for most of that time.