HUMAN EVOLUTION

Introduction
Human evolution, the process by which human beings  developed
on Earth from now-extinct primates.
 DEFINITION

• Australopithecus, (Latin: “southern ape”) (genus Australopithecus), group of

extinct primates closely related to, if not actually ancestors of, modern human beings and
known from a series of fossils found at numerous sites in eastern, north-central, and
southern Africa. The various species of Australopithecus lived 4.4 million to 1.4 million
years ago (mya), during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs (which lasted from 5.3 million
to 11,700 years ago)
• Homo habilis, (Latin: “able man” or “handy man”) extinct species of human, the most
ancient representative of the human genus, Homo. Homo habilis inhabited parts of sub-
Saharan Africa from roughly 2.4 to 1.5 million years ago (mya). In 1959 and 1960 the first
fossils were discovered at Olduvai Gorge in northern Tanzania
 DEFINITION

• Homo erectus, (Latin: “upright man”) extinct species of the human genus (Homo),
perhaps an ancestor of modern humans (Homo sapiens). H. erectus most likely
originated in Africa, though Eurasia cannot be ruled out.
• Neanderthal, (Homo neanderthalensis, Homo sapiens neanderthalensis), also
spelled Neandertal, member of a group of archaic humans who emerged at least 200,000
years ago during the Pleistocene Epoch (about 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago) and were
replaced or assimilated by early modern human populations (Homo sapiens) between 35,000
and perhaps 24,000 years ago. 
 DEFINITION

• Homo erectus, (Latin: “upright man”) extinct species of the human genus (Homo),
perhaps an ancestor of modern humans (Homo sapiens). H. erectus most likely
originated in Africa, though Eurasia cannot be ruled out.
• Neanderthal, (Homo neanderthalensis, Homo sapiens neanderthalensis), also
spelled Neandertal, member of a group of archaic humans who emerged at least 200,000
years ago during the Pleistocene Epoch (about 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago) and were
replaced or assimilated by early modern human populations (Homo sapiens) between 35,000
and perhaps 24,000 years ago. 
• Homo sapiens, (Latin: “wise man”) the species to which all modern human beings belong.
Homo sapiens is one of several species grouped into the genus Homo, but it is the only one
that is not extinct. See also human evolution.

TIME LINE
 • CONCLUSION
• Humans are culture-bearing primates classified in the genus Homo, especially the species Homo sapiens. They are
anatomically similar and related to the great apes (orangutans, chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas) but are
distinguished by a more highly developed brain that allows for the capacity for articulate speech and abstract
reasoning. Humans display a marked erectness of body carriage that frees the hands for use as manipulative members.

• References:
• Bruce McEvoy's Human Evolution
• Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs and Steel, Wikipedia