Human evolution

Fossils and other evidence of human habitation provide the data from which the human story is unfolding. Discover our family tree from our evolutionary past.

Updated

08/04/20

Becoming human

Millions of years ago, our ancestors started an evolutionary journey...

Sharing a common ancestor

Humans did not evolve from an ape - we are apes, and our closest living relatives include chimpanzees and gorillas.

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Walking on two legs – bipedalism

Our bipedal body structure is unique amongst living apes. In fact, our ancestors started on the path to becoming human when they began walking on two legs.

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Shorter jaws with smaller teeth

As our ancestors evolved, their jaws and teeth changed in many ways. Some tooth changes were apparent five million years ago and additional changes have occurred since then.

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Larger brains

Important changes to the brain have been occurring for more than two million years. These changes have resulted in dramatic increase in brain size and the reorganisation of the brain in which some parts, such as those involved in learning, have developed more than others, such as smell and vision

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Complex technology

Our ancestors have been using tools for many millions of years. As our ancestors’ intelligence increased, they developed the ability to make increasingly more complex stone, metal and other tools, create art and deliberately produce and sustain fire.

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Some interesting connections

The trends and changes that made us human did not develop in isolation. There are some interesting connections between the four major trends.

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Where do we fit in?

We have unique characteristics but also similarities with other animals.

Humans are mammals

Humans are members of a large group of animals known as mammals (Class Mammalia).

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Humans are primates

Humans are members of a particular sub-group of mammals known as the primates (Order Primates).

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This a cast of a male gorilla, Gorilla gorilla, skull.

Humans and other Great Apes

Humans are classified in the sub-group of primates known as the Great Apes.

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We are humans

Humans are members of a sub-group of the Great Apes known as the hominins (Tribe Hominini).

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Humanoid Skulls: ‘Turkana Boy’ Homo ergaster skull

Hominid and hominin – what’s the difference?

Current use of the term ‘hominid’ can be confusing because the definition of this word has changed over time.

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Meet the family

Our family tree includes different species from our evolutionary past. Extending back for five to seven million years to the time when our ancestors took their first two-legged steps on the path toward becoming human. Discover below our factsheets on the different species.

The human family tree

Our family tree extends back for five to seven million years to the time when our ancestors took their first two-legged steps on the path toward becoming human. During this vast period of time our family tree grew to include many ancestors representing different species from our evolutionary past

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Sahelanthropus tchadensis

Claimed as one of the most significant discoveries in the field of human evolution, the fossils possibly represent the oldest known human ancestor after the split of the human line from that of the chimpanzees. However, this is hotly debated.

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Orrorin tugenensis

A key specimen of the human story, its position on our family tree is highly debated. Is it the oldest known hominin or should it be placed on the tree before the human line split from the line leading to chimpanzees?

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Ardipithecus kadabba

This early hominin lived over 5 million years ago in East Africa.

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Ardipithecus ramidus

Discovered in the 1990s, this is one of the earliest of our hominin ancestors yet discovered.

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<i>A. anamensis</i> fossil skull, dubbed MRD, uncovered in 2016 at the Woranso-Mille site in the Afar region of Ethiopia

Australopithecus anamensis

A. anamensis is the earliest known australopithecine and lived over 4 million years ago.

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Cast of partial cranium remains of <i>A. garhi</i> (type specimen BOU-VP-12/130)

Australopithecus garhi

This hominin lived 2.5 million years and, although similar to other australopithecines, it displayed some surprising features.

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<i>Australopithecus bahreghazali</i> holotype mandible (KT-12/H1)

Australopithecus bahrelghazali

This species lived about 3.6 million years ago and is the first from the genus Australopithecus to be discovered outside of southern and eastern Africa.

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Australopithecus africanus

This species was the first of our pre-human ancestors to be discovered, but was initially rejected from our family tree because of its small brain. This opinion changed when new evidence showed this species had many features intermediate between apes and humans.

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Australopithecus sediba

This hominin species was announced in 2010 and has scientists hotly debating its validity as a species and its relationships to other hominins, in particular its relationship to our genus Homo.

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Paranthropus genus

The genus or group Paranthropus currently includes three species, P. boisei, P. robustus, and P. aethiopicus. They are collectively known as the ‘robusts’ because of their extremely large jaws and molar teeth. They are our distant ‘cousins’ rather than our direct relatives.

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Homo habilis

The earliest of our ancestors to show a significant increase in brain size and also the first to be found associated with stone tools.

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Homo rudolfensis

This early human lived about 2 million years ago, but its place on our family tree is debated.

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Homo ergaster

Homo ergaster was the first of our ancestors to look more like modern humans. These people were generally tall and slender and may also have been relatively hairless. Not everyone accepts this species name, some still prefer to use the term African Homo erectus.

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Homo erectus

Fossils of these short and stocky humans, with their distinctive skull shape and large brow ridges, have mostly been found in China and Indonesia.

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Homo naledi

The remains of at least 15 individuals were found in the Rising Star cave system in South Africa and announced as a new human species in 2015. The remains are the largest assemblage of a single hominin species yet discovered in Africa.

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Homo antecessor

This species name is highly debated with many considering the remains to be Homo heidelbergensis. Whatever species they come from, these fossils are the oldest Homo found in Europe.

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Homo heidelbergensis

These humans evolved in Africa but by 500,000 years ago some populations were in Europe. They lived and worked in co-operative groups, hunted large animals and made a variety of tools including stone hand axes and wooden spears set with stone spearheads.

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Le Moustier Homo neanderthalensis skull side view

Homo neanderthalensis – The Neanderthals

Neanderthals co-existed with modern humans for long periods of time before eventually becoming extinct about 28,000 years ago. The unfortunate stereotype of these people as dim-witted and brutish cavemen still lingers in popular ideology but research has revealed a more nuanced picture.

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The Denisovans

The Denisovans are the first ancient hominin species revealed by genes alone, not by fossil classification. While placed in the Homo genus, they have not yet been given a species classification as no physical description exists.

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Homo floresiensis

One of the most controversial and surprising hominin finds in a century.

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Homo sapiens – modern humans

All people living today belong to the species Homo sapiens. We evolved only relatively recently but with complex culture and technology have been able to spread throughout the world and occupy a range of different environments.

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Analysing the evidence

Scientists can recover a lot of information about about ancestors from fossils and oter evidence of human evolution.

Upper leg bone of Australopithecus afarensis 'Lucy'

Our ancestors’ fossils – ancient bones and footprints

Fossils are fascinating reminders of life in ancient times. They can also reveal an amazing amount of information. Fossils have, for example, helped us work out who some of our direct ancestors might be.

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How do we know how they behaved?

An amazing amount of information can be extracted from the artefacts and fossil remains of our ancestors and the fossils of other animals. These can provide information about our ancestors’ lifestyles, technological abilities and even their social interactions.

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How do we know if they could speak?

All animals communicate. However, only humans communicate through language, which can be written, spoken or signed. The enormous benefits of language have allowed us to teach others, pass on our culture, discuss the past and future, and promote social relationships.

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How do we know what they ate?

The foods eaten by our ancestors can tell us a lot about their lifestyles and the environments in which they lived. Food has also played a major role in human evolution, particularly when meat became a significant part of the human diet about two million years ago.

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How do we know what their environments were like?

Reconstructing the physical environment in which our ancestors lived allows us to gain a greater understanding of their day-to-day lives. Environments on both local and broader scales are greatly affected by climate, so climate change is an important area of study in reconstructing past environments

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How do we know an individual’s age at death?

Scientists can sometimes work out how old an individual was at the time of their death. Their age at death is determined by examining their teeth and bones, and by understanding how quickly these structures develop within the bodies of our ancestors.

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Do we know how some early human ancestors died?

The bones of some ancient individuals can tell us how their owners died. Some individuals had diseases that can be seen from the structure of their bones or teeth. Some had physical injuries that produce unique types of damage.

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Cast and recontruction of Homo rudolfensis.

How do we know what they looked like?

Seeing our ancestors’ fleshed-out faces and bodies helps us to imagine them as living beings. Instead of staring at fragments of bone, we can gaze into a face from the past. Reconstructions that show flesh on bone begin with a detailed knowledge of primate anatomy.

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The influence of science on the human story

Discover a timeline of scientific discoveries and theories that build on the works and ideas of others: nothing happens in isolation!

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A timeline of fossil discoveries

A key part of writing a coherent story about our origins is finding and identifying the remains of our ancestors and understanding their significance. Scientists will not always agree on identifications and opinions will change as new find are made and new ways of studying them are developed.

Skull & lower jaw - Skhul 5 skull Homo sapiens front view

When and where did our species originate?

Our species, Homo sapiens, has now spread to all parts of the world but it's generally believed that we originated in Africa by about 200,000 years ago. We interacted with local archaic human populations as we colonised the globe.

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The first migrations out of Africa

About 2 million years ago, the first of our ancestors moved northwards from their homelands and out of Africa.

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The first modern humans in Southeast Asia

Archaeological evidence shows that modern humans had reached Southeast Asia by 70,000 years ago, however the oldest securely dated modern human remains are only about 40,000 years old.

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When did modern humans get to Australia?

Archaeological evidence shows that modern humans had reached South-east Asia by 70,000 years ago and that they had spread to Australia by at least 50,000 years ago.

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Are we still evolving?

How have we changed since our species first appeared?

Physical and genetic changes have occurred within our species and will continue to occur at a basic level as new genes evolve. However, these changes may not be as dramatic as they were in the past as the situation today does not favour the evolution of a new human species.

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What will we look like in the future?

Predicting what we will be like in the future has been the domain of science fiction writes for centuries

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Australian Centre for Wildlife Genomics DNA lab 2015.

How do we affect our evolution?

We are the only living things that have the ability to counter the forces of evolution. In the past, our ancestors relied on genetic adaptations for survival. Today, technology, rather than biology, has become the key to our survival as a species.

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