Ardipithecus
The genus Ardipithecus includes two species, Ar. kadabba (5.8-5.2 Ma) and Ar. ramidus (4.4 Ma), both discovered in the Middle Awash region of Ethiopia, representing some of the earliest known hominins.
Australopithecus afarensis
Australopithecus afarensis lived in East Africa from approximately 3.9 to 3.0 million years ago and is represented by hundreds of fossils, including the famous "Lucy" skeleton, the juvenile "Selam," and the Laetoli footprint trackways.
Australopithecus africanus
Raymond Dart's 1924 identification of the Taung Child as a bipedal human ancestor from Africa was rejected for decades by scientists who expected human origins in Europe, partly because the Piltdown Man hoax had distorted expectations of what early hominins should look like.
Australopithecus anamensis
Australopithecus anamensis is the earliest unambiguous member of the genus Australopithecus, known from fossils dated between 4.2 and 3.8 million years ago at sites in Kenya and Ethiopia, with clear anatomical evidence of habitual bipedal locomotion combined with primitive, ape-like cranial features.
Denisovans
The Denisovans were an archaic human population first identified in 2010 from a single finger bone through ancient DNA analysis, making them the first hominin group discovered primarily through genetics rather than morphology.
Early Homo sapiens in Africa
The oldest known fossils attributed to Homo sapiens come from Jebel Irhoud in Morocco, dated to approximately 315,000 years ago, demonstrating that our species did not originate exclusively in East Africa but emerged across the continent.
Homo erectus
Homo erectus is the longest-surviving human species, persisting from roughly 1.9 million to 108,000 years ago across Africa, Asia, and Europe, with brain sizes ranging from 546 to 1,251 cubic centimeters.
Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis
Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis, dating from roughly 2.4 to 1.5 million years ago, represent the earliest members of our genus and document a significant increase in brain size over the preceding australopiths.
Homo heidelbergensis
Homo heidelbergensis is a Middle Pleistocene hominin species known from fossils across Africa and Europe dating from roughly 700,000 to 200,000 years ago, widely regarded as the last common ancestor of Neanderthals, Denisovans, and modern humans.
Homo naledi
Discovered in 2013 in South Africa's Rising Star Cave, Homo naledi is represented by more than 1,550 fossil specimens from at least 15 individuals, making it the largest single-species hominin assemblage ever found in Africa.
Homo sapiens: out of Africa
Fossil, genetic, and archaeological evidence converge on Africa as the homeland of Homo sapiens, with multiple dispersal waves beginning at least 210,000 years ago and a major successful expansion after roughly 70,000 years ago that populated every inhabited continent.
Kenyanthropus platyops
Kenyanthropus platyops is a 3.5-million-year-old hominin from Lomekwi, Kenya, distinguished by an unusually flat face and small molars that set it apart from the contemporaneous Australopithecus afarensis.
Later Australopithecus species
Three late australopithecine species — A. garhi, A. sediba, and A. deyiremeda — demonstrate that the period from 3.4 to 1.98 million years ago saw a diverse radiation of hominins, not a single linear chain of ancestors.
Neanderthals
Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) were a cold-adapted human species who occupied Europe and western Asia for over 300,000 years, with average brain volumes larger than those of modern humans.
Orrorin tugenensis
Discovered in 2000 in the Tugen Hills of Kenya, Orrorin tugenensis is dated to approximately 6 million years ago and provides the earliest postcranial evidence of bipedal locomotion in the hominin fossil record.
Paranthropus
The genus Paranthropus comprises three species of "robust" hominins—P. aethiopicus, P. boisei, and P. robustus—characterized by massive jaws, enormous molars, and powerful chewing muscles anchored to bony sagittal crests.
Sahelanthropus tchadensis
Discovered in 2001 in the Djurab Desert of Chad and dated to approximately 7 million years ago, Sahelanthropus tchadensis is the oldest known potential hominin, represented primarily by a near-complete cranium nicknamed 'Toumaï.'
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Homo floresiensis, discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2003, stood roughly one meter tall with a brain volume of about 380 cc, yet manufactured stone tools and hunted cooperatively for tens of thousands of years.