Discover the fossils and science behind how our ancestors evolved from seven million years to the present
Miocene
Ending around 5.3 million years ago
8.0 to 7.0 million years ago
01 – Human-chimpanzee split
Humans are members of the order Primates, which also includes other apes, monkeys, and lemurs. Genetic evidence shows that chimpanzees are our closest living relatives, and our lineages diverged from each other roughly 8.0 to 7.0 million years ago.
Environmental and Climate Changes
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Global cooling and expansion of grasslands 8.0 to 5.0 Ma
Species Present
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Sahelanthropus tchadensis 7.2 to 6.8 Ma
Miocene
Ending around 5.3 million years ago
7.0 to 6.0 million years ago
02 – Loss of the canine honing complex
Many primates have large, pointed canine teeth that are used for defensive or aggressive display. The earliest hominin fossils show a reduction in the size of the canine tooth and the loss of the canine honing complex.
Environmental and Climate Changes
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Global cooling and expansion of grasslands 8.0 to 5.0 Ma
Species Present
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Sahelanthropus tchadensis 7.2 to 6.8 Ma
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Orrorin tugenensis 6.1 to 5.8 Ma
Pliocene
5.3 to 2.58 million years ago
7.0 to 5.0 million years ago
03 – Circumstantial evidence for the emergence of bipedalism
Evidence from the fossil record suggests that the earliest hominins were at least partially bipedal, meaning they were able, and tended, to move around on two legs.
Environmental and Climate Changes
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Global cooling and expansion of grasslands 8.0 to 5.0 Ma
Species Present
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Sahelanthropus tchadensis 7.2 to 6.8 Ma
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Orrorin tugenensis 6.1 to 5.8 Ma
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Ardipithecus kadabba 5.8 to 5.2 Ma
Pliocene
5.3 to 2.58 million years ago
4.4 million years ago
04 – Fossil evidence for facultative bipedalism
By 4.5 million years ago, skeletal evidence of hominin pelves and lower limbs show that human ancestors were clearly adapted for bipedal locomotion.
Environmental and Climate Changes
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Aridity, enhanced seasonality—Loss of forests and savanna expansion 4.4 Ma
Species Present
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Ardipithecus ramidus 4.5 to 4.3 Ma
Pliocene
5.3 to 2.58 million years ago
4.2 to 3.9 million years ago
05 – Earliest evidence of habitual bipedalism
The transition from a facultative biped into a habitual biped is relatively short.
Environmental and Climate Changes
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Continued aridity, enhanced seasonality—Loss of forests and savanna expansion 4.4 Ma
Species Present
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Australopithecus anamensis 4.2 to 3.8 Ma
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Australopithecus afarensis 3.9 to 2.9 Ma
Pliocene
5.3 to 2.58 million years ago
3.6 million years ago
06 – Habitual bipedalism—Laetoli and Lucy
A preserved set of footprints called the Laetoli footprints shows that hominins (most likely Australopithecus afarensis) walked using both heel strike and toe-off phases, indicating a mechanical adaptation towards permanent bipedalism.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Continued aridity, enhanced seasonality—Loss of forests and savanna expansion 4.4 Ma
Species Present
-
Australopithecus afarensis 3.9 to 2.9 Ma
Pliocene
5.3 to 2.58 million years ago
3.6 million years ago
07 – Dietary expansions/shifts
Chemical analysis on teeth enamel suggests that early hominin diets changed drastically at around 3.6 million years ago and that these changes are likely due to changes in the environment.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Continued aridity, enhanced seasonality—Loss of forests and savanna expansion 4.4 Ma
Species Present
-
Australopithecus afarensis 3.9 to 2.9 Ma
Pliocene
5.3 to 2.58 million years ago
3.5 to 3.3 million years ago
08 – Multiple contemporaneous species
Scientists increasingly recognize that multiple hominin species existed at the same time throughout much of human evolution. In fact, the human evolutionary tree grows more bushy with the increasingly complete fossil record.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Continued aridity, enhanced seasonality—Loss of forests and savanna expansion 4.4 Ma
Species Present
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Australopithecus afarensis 3.9 to 2.9 Ma
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Australopithecus deyiremeda 3.5 to 3.3 Ma
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Kenyanthropus platyops 3.5 to 3.3 Ma
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The Burtele foot 3.4 Ma
Pliocene
5.3 to 2.58 million years ago
3.4 million years ago
09 – Hominin with opposable big toe
The Burtele foot, a hominin fossil foot, showed long toes and an abducted big toe—like other apes and only the earliest hominins. At 3.4 million years old, this hominin is a contemporary of the australopiths, despite its lack of bipedal adaptations.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Continued aridity, enhanced seasonality—Loss of forests and savanna expansion 4.4 Ma
Species Present
-
Australopithecus afarensis 3.9 to 2.9 Ma
-
Australopithecus deyiremeda 3.5 to 3.3 Ma
-
Kenyanthropus platyops 3.5 to 3.3 Ma
-
The Burtele foot 3.4 Ma
Pliocene
5.3 to 2.58 million years ago
3.4 to 3.3 million years ago
10 – Earliest evidence of stone tool use
Stone tools may be the earliest inventions of our ancestors.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Continued aridity, enhanced seasonality—Loss of forests and savanna expansion 4.4 Ma
Species Present
-
Australopithecus afarensis 3.9 to 2.9 Ma
-
Australopithecus deyiremeda 3.5 to 3.3 Ma
-
Kenyanthropus platyops 3.5 to 3.3 Ma
-
The Burtele foot 3.4 Ma
Pliocene
5.3 to 2.58 million years ago
3.2 million years ago
11 – The discovery of Lucy
Almost 50 years ago, a new species of hominin, popularly called “Lucy,” was discovered in Hadar, Ethiopia. Lucy’s species is the first ancient ancestor that scientists believe walked upright, bipedally, all the time.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Continued aridity, enhanced seasonality—Loss of forests and savanna expansion 4.4 Ma
-
Shifts to even more open and arid environments 3 to 2.5 Ma
Species Present
-
Australopithecus afarensis 3.9 to 2.9 Ma
Pliocene
5.3 to 2.58 million years ago
2.8 million years ago
12 – Earliest evidence for the emergence of the genus Homo
The earliest evidence for the emergence of our genus Homo is a 2.8-million-year-old partial jaw bone, a mandible, from Ledi-Geraru, a paleontological site in northern Ethiopia.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Shifts to even more open and arid environments 3 to 2.5 Ma
Species Present
-
Australopithecus africanus 3.0 to 2.0 Ma
-
Homo (Ledi Geraru) 2.8 Ma
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
2.8 million to 800,000 years ago
13 – Australopiths and Homo sharing the landscape
At just around 2.0 million years ago, there were three very different types of ancient human ancestors roaming the same small landscape in southern Africa—Homo, Paranthropus, and Australopithecus.
Environmental and Climate Changes
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Pleistocene glaciation 2.5 Ma
-
Intensification of cold glacial/warm interglacial cycles 1.2 Ma to 600,000 Ya
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
Species Present
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Australopithecus africanus 3.0 to 2.0 Ma
-
Paranthropus aethiopicus 2.7 to 2.3 Ma
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Australopithecus garhi 2.5 Ma
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Homo rudolfensis 2.5 to 1.8 Ma
-
Homo habilis 2.3 to 1.6 Ma
-
Paranthropus boisei 2.3 to 1.4 Ma
-
Paranthropus robustus 2.3 to 1.2 Ma
-
Australopithecus sediba 1.95 to 1.75 Ma
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
Pliocene
5.3 to 2.58 million years ago
Around 2.7 million years ago
14 – Emergence of the robust australopiths—New craniodental adaptations to hard/tough diets
For hominins living on the savannas of Africa, finding food would be a perpetual challenge. The lineage of hominins called Paranthropus faced this challenge by adapting a highly specialized set of dietary adaptations.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Shifts to even more open and arid environments 3 to 2.5 Ma
Species Present
-
Australopithecus africanus 3.0 to 2.0 Ma
-
Homo (Ledi Geraru) 2.8 Ma
-
Paranthropus aethiopicus 2.7 to 2.3 Ma
Pliocene
5.3 to 2.58 million years ago
2.6 million years ago
15 – Emergence of Oldowan tools
The first stone tool industry, a range of specific cutting and crushing tools, dates back to 2.6 million years.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Shifts to even more open and arid environments 3 to 2.5 Ma
Species Present
-
Australopithecus africanus 3.0 to 2.0 Ma
-
Homo (Ledi Geraru) 2.8 Ma
-
Paranthropus aethiopicus 2.7 to 2.3 Ma
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
2.5 million years ago
16 – Origin of specialized chewing apparatus
The skull of Australopithecus africanus shows a series of critical adaptations towards a new form of mastication, or chewing.
Environmental and Climate Changes
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Shifts to even more open and arid environments 3 to 2.5 Ma
-
Pleistocene glaciation 2.5 Ma
Species Present
-
Australopithecus africanus 3.0 to 2.0 Ma
-
Homo (Ledi Geraru) 2.8 Ma
-
Paranthropus aethiopicus 2.7 to 2.3 Ma
-
Australopithecus garhi 2.5 Ma
-
Homo rudolfensis 2.5 to 1.8 Ma
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
2.0 million years ago
17 – Initial increase in brain size
Around 2.0 million years ago, hominins, specifically those in our own genus Homo, began to evolve a curious adaptation: Big brains.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Pleistocene glaciation 2.5 Ma
Species Present
-
Australopithecus africanus 3.0 to 2.0 Ma
-
Homo rudolfensis 2.5 to 1.8 Ma
-
Homo habilis 2.3 to 1.6 Ma
-
Paranthropus boisei 2.3 to 1.4 Ma
-
Paranthropus robustus 2.3 to 1.2 Ma
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
1.8 million years ago
18 – First migration out of Africa
Fossil evidence shows that early hominins explored the world beyond the African continent by at least 1.8 million years ago. These early trail blazers belonged to the species Homo erectus, and they migrated out of Africa in multiple waves.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Pleistocene glaciation 2.5 Ma
Species Present
-
Homo rudolfensis 2.5 to 1.8 Ma
-
Homo habilis 2.3 to 1.6 Ma
-
Paranthropus boisei 2.3 to 1.4 Ma
-
Paranthropus robustus 2.3 to 1.2 Ma
-
Australopithecus sediba 1.95 to 1.75 Ma
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
1.8 million years ago
19 – Beginning of dental size reduction and increase in brain size in Homo
After the emergence of Homo, we start seeing coevolution of reduction in dental size and consistent increase in brain size contemporaneously with the earliest clear evidence of stone tools around 2.6 million years ago.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Pleistocene glaciation 2.5 Ma
Species Present
-
Homo rudolfensis 2.5 to 1.8 Ma
-
Homo habilis 2.3 to 1.6 Ma
-
Paranthropus boisei 2.3 to 1.4 Ma
-
Paranthropus robustus 2.3 to 1.2 Ma
-
Australopithecus sediba 1.95 to 1.75 Ma
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
1.7 million years ago
20 – Earliest Acheulean tools
Acheulean tools have been found over a large area of the Old World from southern Africa and northern and western Europe to the Indian subcontinent.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Pleistocene glaciation 2.5 Ma
Species Present
-
Homo habilis 2.3 to 1.6 Ma
-
Paranthropus boisei 2.3 to 1.4 Ma
-
Paranthropus robustus 2.3 to 1.2 Ma
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
1.5 million years ago
21 – Evidence for fire use
There is evidence for sporadic use of fire earlier in the archaeological record with preserved burned sediments up to 1.5 million years ago.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Pleistocene glaciation 2.5 Ma
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
Species Present
-
Homo habilis 2.3 to 1.6 Ma
-
Paranthropus boisei 2.3 to 1.4 Ma
-
Paranthropus robustus 2.3 to 1.2 Ma
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
1.25 million to 700,000 years ago
22 – Major global climatic change and hominin expansion to Northern Europe
Beginning around 1.25 million years ago, up until 700,000 years ago, the earth was undergoing a major global climatic change where glacial/interglacial cycles changed from 41,000 to 100,000 years periodicity.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Intensification of cold glacial/warm interglacial cycles 1.2 Ma to 600,000 Ya
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
Species Present
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
-
Homo antecessor 1.2 Ma to 800,000 Ya
-
Homo heidelbergensis 800,000 to 125,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
1.2 Million Years Ago
23 – Earliest hominin in Europe
Based on the fossil evidence from Orce and Atapuerca (Sima del Elephante) in Spain, members of the hominin species known as Homo antecessor, reached the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe ca. 1.2 million years ago, or probably as early as 1.4 million years ago.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Intensification of cold glacial/warm interglacial cycles 1.2 Ma to 600,000 Ya
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
Species Present
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
-
Homo antecessor 1.2 Ma to 800,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
500,000 years ago
24 – Earliest known hafted hunting technology
The earliest evidence for hafted tools, where a stone tool is attached to a wooden or bone handle to create a compound tool, precede the date for Homo sapiens.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Intensification of cold glacial/warm interglacial cycles 1.2 Ma to 600,000 Ya
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
Species Present
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
-
Homo heidelbergensis 800,000 to 125,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
500,000 years ago
25 – Split of Neandertal and Denisovan lineages from modern humans (per genetic evidence)
Genetic evidence shows that the lineage of the Neandertals and Denisovans first diverged from the human lineage about 500,000 years ago.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Intensification of cold glacial/warm interglacial cycles 1.2 Ma to 600,000 Ya
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
Species Present
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
-
Homo heidelbergensis 800,000 to 125,000 Ya
-
Homo neanderthalensis arrives 400,000 to 30,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
430,000 years ago
26 – Earliest Neandertals (per the fossil evidence)
The fossil community found at Sima de los Huesos, Spain, called the “Cave of Bones,” represents a “proto” or the earliest version of the earliest known fossils of Neandertals or Homo neanderthalensis.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
Species Present
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
-
Homo heidelbergensis 800,000 to 125,000 Ya
-
Homo neanderthalensis arrives 400,000 to 30,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
400,000 years ago
27 – Earliest spears
The earliest spears were likely made from wood or other organic materials, which are likely lost from the archaeological record.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
Species Present
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
-
Homo heidelbergensis 800,000 to 125,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
300,000 years ago
28 – Oldest human fossils discovered
For humans, we have only a single anatomical feature which differentiates us from all other hominins: the bony chin. Fossils found at the site Jebel Irhoud in Morocco, dating to 300,000 years ago, possessed bony chins—this unique feature helped scientists determine that these fossils are the oldest Homo sapiens fossils known.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
Species Present
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
-
Homo heidelbergensis 800,000 to 125,000 Ya
-
Homo neanderthalensis arrives 400,000 to 30,000 Ya
-
Homo naledi 335,000 to 236,000 Ya
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
300,000 years ago
29 – Beginning of slow human growth and extended development
By studying the rate of growth from tooth enamel growth lines, scientists determined that around 300,000-year-old Homo sapiens individuals had the same exact pattern of prolonged tooth development and eruption times as in modern human children.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
Species Present
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
-
Homo heidelbergensis 800,000 to 125,000 Ya
-
Homo neanderthalensis arrives 400,000 to 30,000 Ya
-
Homo naledi 335,000 to 236,000 Ya
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
-
Homo neanderthalensis 200,000 to 28,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
300,000 years ago
30 – Earliest modern humans in Africa
While the earliest modern humans evolved about 300,000 years ago, it took quite a while for their populations to increase and for humans to expand across the African continent.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
Species Present
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
-
Homo heidelbergensis 800,000 to 125,000 Ya
-
Homo neanderthalensis arrives 400,000 to 30,000 Ya
-
Homo naledi 335,000 to 236,000 Ya
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
300,000 years ago
31 – Flake-based projectile points and blade technology
The “Levallois” technique for stone tool making involved a sequenced pattern of removing stone flakes from a prepared core, called a bifacial reduction sequence.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
Species Present
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
-
Homo heidelbergensis 800,000 to 125,000 Ya
-
Homo neanderthalensis arrives 400,000 to 30,000 Ya
-
Homo naledi 335,000 to 236,000 Ya
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
164,000 years ago
32 – Coastal foraging at Pinnacle Point, South Africa
In caves at a coastal site in South Africa called Pinnacle Point, archaeological excavations have revealed accumulations of shells that suggest humans were harvesting shellfish as far back as 164,000 years ago.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
Species Present
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
-
Homo heidelbergensis 800,000 to 125,000 Ya
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
-
Homo neanderthalensis 200,000 to 28,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
162,000 years ago
33 – Heat treatment of raw materials (stone tools and ochre)
The discovery of heat-treated and flaked stone tools in southern Africa dating to around 70,000 years ago indicates that humans’ ability to solve complex problems.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
Species Present
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
-
Homo heidelbergensis 800,000 to 125,000 Ya
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
-
Homo neanderthalensis 200,000 to 28,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
160,000 years ago
34 – Symbolic behavior: Mortuary modification of human skeletal remains
Sometime between 250,000 and 50,000 years ago, there is evidence that the first burials occurred—roughly coinciding with the Middle Paleolithic (250,000 to 30,000 years ago) period in Eurasia. One of the crania from Herto (Ethiopia, ca. 160,000 years ago) bears bone-surface modifications that may be associated with mortuary modifications.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
Species Present
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
-
Homo heidelbergensis 800,000 to 125,000 Ya
-
Homo neanderthalensis arrives 400,000 to 30,000 Ya
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
-
Homo neanderthalensis 200,000 to 28,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
160,000 years ago
35 – Occupation of very high-altitude environments
There is now evidence that early human ancestors may have reached the Tibetan Plateau as early as 160,000 years ago. The evidence for this comes from fossil evidence found in the Tibetan Plateau indicating the presence of the Denisovans in the area at that time.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
Species Present
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
-
Homo heidelbergensis 800,000 to 125,000 Ya
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
-
Homo neanderthalensis 200,000 to 28,000 Ya
-
Denisovans 130,000 to 75,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
120,000 years ago
36 – Cooking
Cooking our food doesn’t just make it taste better, but it actually makes foods easier to digest.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
Species Present
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
-
Homo neanderthalensis 200,000 to 28,000 Ya
-
Denisovans 130,000 to 75,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
120,000 to 90,000 years ago
37 – Bone tool technology and production of leather clothing
Dating from 120,000 to 90,000 years ago, bone tools were found in Morocco in association with carnivore remains that showed signs of skinning for furs and pelts.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
-
Glacial/interglacial cycles changed 100,000 to 41,000 years
Species Present
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
-
Homo neanderthalensis 200,000 to 28,000 Ya
-
Denisovans 130,000 to 75,000 Ya
-
Homo floresiensis 100,000 to 50,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
110,000 years ago
38 – Use of ornaments (beads and shells)
Many archaeologists regard shell bead ornaments as proof that anatomically modern humans had developed a sophisticated symbolic material culture.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
Species Present
-
Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
-
Homo neanderthalensis 200,000 to 28,000 Ya
-
Denisovans 130,000 to 75,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
65,000 years ago
39 – First evidence of water craft
The first human crossing by boats likely occurred across a 55-mile ocean gap from Indonesia to Australia around 65,000 years ago.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
-
Glacial/interglacial cycles changed 100,000 to 41,000 years
-
Mount Toba eruption—Largest volcanic eruption in two million years creates global winter 74,000 Ya
Species Present
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
-
Homo neanderthalensis 200,000 to 28,000 Ya
-
Homo floresiensis 100,000 to 50,000 Ya
-
Homo luzonensis ~ 67,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
64,000 years ago
40 – Oldest cave art by Neandertals
A series of red lines forming a ladder-like image may not look like much, but this rudimentary cave painting is actually the oldest known form of art in the human fossil record.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
-
Glacial/interglacial cycles changed 100,000 to 41,000 years
Species Present
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
-
Homo neanderthalensis 200,000 to 28,000 Ya
-
Homo floresiensis 100,000 to 50,000 Ya
-
Homo luzonensis ~ 67,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
Around 50,000 years ago
41 – Human interbreeding with Neandertals
People living today who are descended from Eurasian populations have on average 1.3% Neandertal DNA in their genomes.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
-
Glacial/interglacial cycles changed 100,000 to 41,000 years
Species Present
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
-
Homo neanderthalensis 200,000 to 28,000 Ya
-
Homo floresiensis 100,000 to 50,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
45,000 years ago
42 – Occupation of circumpolar environments
A frozen mammoth carcass discovered within the Siberian Arctic, bearing signs of weapon-inflicted injuries was dated to 45,000 years ago.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
-
Glacial/interglacial cycles changed 100,000 to 41,000 years
Species Present
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
-
Homo neanderthalensis 200,000 to 28,000 Ya
Pleistocene
2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
Around 12,000 years ago
43 – Beginning of agricultural communities
The human development of agriculture marks a key turning point in food acquisition strategies for our species.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Abrupt cooling of the Earth—Younger Dryas 12,800 to 11,600 Ya
-
Interglacial period 11,000 Ya to Present
Species Present
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
Holocene
11,700 to 1900 years ago
9,000 years ago
44 – Earliest skeletal evidence of tuberculosis and Chagas’ disease
When humans and human ancestors migrated around the globe, they encountered new pathogens and brought some pathogens with them, creating new distributions of diseases.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Interglacial period 11,000 Ya to Present
Species Present
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
Holocene
11,700 to 1900 years ago
5,400 years ago
45 – Earliest evidence of writing system
The records that early civilizations left behind give us incredible insights into their daily lives, their understanding of the world around them, and their culture.
Environmental and Climate Changes
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Interglacial period 11,000 Ya to Present
Species Present
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
Holocene
11,700 to 1900 years ago
July 20, 1969
46 – Humans land on the moon
On July 20, 1969, millions of people gathered around their televisions to watch two U.S. astronauts do something no one had ever done before—step foot on the moon!
Environmental and Climate Changes
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Last 200 years—Earth’s climate has been getting dangerously warmer
Species Present
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
Anthropocene
1900 years ago
2022
47 – Worldwide population reaches 8 billion
On November 15, 2022, the United Nations said that a “milestone in human development” had occurred—the world population had reached eight billion.
Environmental and Climate Changes
-
Last 200 years—Earth’s climate has been getting dangerously warmer
Species Present
-
Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
