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3 BCE
Australopithecus Afarensis
Australopithecus afarensis is one of the longest-lived and best-known early human species—paleoanthropologists have uncovered remains from more than 300 individuals! Height: Males: average 4 ft 11 in (151 cm); Females: average 3 ft 5 in (105 cm)Weight: Males: average 92 lbs (42 kg) ; Females: average 64 lbs (29 kg) -
Period: 3 BCE to 2 BCE
Australopithecus Afarensis
Time range- between 3.85-2.95 million years ago
Geographic Range- Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania)
This species, to which the ‘Lucy’ skeleton belongs, has apelike proportions of the face and braincase and strong arms with curved fingers adapted to climbing trees, but small canine teeth and a body that stood and walked upright on arched feet. These adaptations helped it survive during times of dramatic climate fluctuations. -
2 BCE
Homo Habilis
This species, one of the earliest members of the genus Homo, has a slightly larger braincase and smaller face and teeth than in Australopithecus or older hominin species. But it still retains some ape-like features, including long arms and a moderately-prognathic face.
Height: average 3 ft 4 in - 4 ft 5 in (100 - 135 cm)Weight: average 70 lbs (32 kg) -
Period: 2 BCE to 1 BCE
Homo Habilis
Time range- 2.4 million to 1.4 million years ago
Geographic range- Eastern and Southern Africa
Its name, which means ‘handy man’, was given because when it was discovered at Olduvai Gorge in the early 1960s, this species was thought to represent the first stone toolmaker. Currently, the oldest stone tools are dated slightly older than the oldest evidence of the genus Homo. -
1 BCE
Homo Erectus
Early fossil discoveries from Java (beginning in the 1890s) and China (‘Peking Man’, beginning in the 1920s) comprise the classic examples of this species. Generally considered to have been the first species to have expanded beyond Africa, Homo erectus is considered a highly variable species, spread over two continents (it's not certain whether it reached Europe)
Height: Ranges from 4 ft 9 in - 6 ft 1 in (145 - 185 cm)Weight: Ranges from 88 - 150 lbs (40 - 68 kg) -
Period: 1 BCE to 110,000 BCE
Homo Erectus
Time range- 1.89 million to 110,000 years ago
Geographic range-Northern, Eastern, and Southern Africa; Western Asia (Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia); East Asia (China and Indonesia)
There is evidence that individuals of Homo erectus were the first early humans to make hearths, to eat significant amount of animal meat and bone marrow, and to care for the old and weak. It was the longest-lived species on our family tree, surviving more than nine times as long as our own species. -
Homo Neanderthalensis
They may have been the first early human species to have language, bury their dead, and exhibit symbolic behavior. Neanderthals made and used a diverse set of sophisticated tools, controlled fire, lived in shelters, made and wore clothing, were skilled hunters of large animals and also ate plant foods, and occasionally made symbolic or ornamental objects. Height: Males:5 ft 5 in (164 cm); Females: 5 ft 1 in (155 cm)Weight: Males: 143 lbs (65 kg); Females: 119 lbs (54 kg) -
Period: to
Homo Neanderthalensis
Time range- 400,000 to 40,000 years ago
Geographic range- Europe and southwestern to central Asia
Defining features of the skull of this species include the large middle part of the face, angled cheek bones, and a huge nose for humidifying and warming cold, dry air. Their bodies were also shaped for heat conservation, with shorter limb extremities. Neanderthals were the first early humans to wear clothing, necessary since they lived in glacial environments. -
Homo Sapiens
Modern humans can generally be characterized by the lighter build of their skeletons compared to earlier humans. Modern humans have very large brains, which vary in size from population. Housing this big brain involved the reorganization of the skull into what is thought of as a thin-walled, high vaulted skull with a flat and near vertical forehead. Human faces also show much less of heavy brow ridges and of other early humans. Our jaws are also less heavily developed, with smaller teeth. -
Period: to
Homo Sapiens
Time range-300,000 years ago to present
Geographic range- Evolved in Africa, now worldwide
Fossils and genetics evidence shows that our species, Homo sapiens, evolved in Africa about 300,000 years ago and began to spread out from there by at least 100,000 years ago. We now live in all parts of the world, and are the sole surviving species left in our once diverse family tree.
