Homo ergaster
The name ergaster means "workman", in reference to the Acheulean hand axe industry developed by the species. The species' period in eastern and southern Africa coincided with the first part of the Pleistocene, the cooling of the global climate and the start of the ice ages. These events would have shrunk the rainforests in Africa, and expanded the savannahs and open forests to which ergaster was well suited.