30 – Earliest modern humans in Africa
300,000 years ago
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. By 250,000 years ago, humans were occupying a variety of territories in Africa. We can use DNA evidence to investigate the ages of human populations still living in Africa, which indicate that many of these populations first developed so long ago.
Image credit Erich Fisher.
Epoch
Pleistocene2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
Environmental and Climate Changes
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Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods
Changing Species
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Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya
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Homo heidelbergensis 800,000 to 125,000 Ya
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Homo neanderthalensis arrives 400,000 to 30,000 Ya
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Homo naledi 335,000 to 236,000 Ya
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Homo sapiens 300,000 Ya to Present
