Interactive Timeline of Human Evolution

Throughout human evolution, multiple ancestral species existed, sometimes sharing the landscape[cite: 50, 70, 71].

• 7–4.3 Million years ago (Ma): Basal hominins[cite: 51].
• 4.3–1.98 Ma: Generalized australopiths[cite: 52].
• 2.8–1.65 Ma: Early Homo[cite: 52].
• 2.7–1.0 Ma: Robust australopiths[cite: 52].
• 1.8 Ma–300,000 years ago: Premodern Homo[cite: 52].
• 430,000–40,000 years ago: Neandertals[cite: 52].
• 300,000 years ago–present: Anatomically modern humans[cite: 52].

• 8–7 Ma: Human–chimpanzee split[cite: 52].
• 7–6 Ma: Earliest evidence for the emergence of bipedalism[cite: 53, 54].
• 3.4–3.3 Ma: Earliest evidence of stone tool use[cite: 61, 62].
• 3.2 Ma: Australopithecus afarensis, popularly known as "Lucy"[cite: 60].
• 2.8 Ma: Earliest evidence for the emergence of the genus Homo[cite: 63, 64].
• 2.6 Ma: Emergence of Oldowan tools[cite: 64, 65].
• 1.8 Ma: First migration out of Africa [cite: 66, 67] and beginning of brain size increase[cite: 69, 70].
• 800 Ka (Thousand years ago): Evidence for controlled fire use[cite: 72, 73].
• 160 Ka: Symbolic behavior—Mortuary modification of human skeletal remains[cite: 81, 82].
• 120 Ka: Cooking[cite: 82, 83].
• 64 Ka: Oldest cave art by Neandertals[cite: 88, 89].
• Around 12 Ka: Beginning of agricultural communities[cite: 85, 86].

Using fossil evidence, artist John Gurche has created reconstructed faces for the "What Does It Mean To Be Human?" exhibit[cite: 143, 144].

• Paranthropus boisei: Male. Reconstruction based on OH 5 and KNM-ER 406[cite: 144].
• Australopithecus africanus: Reconstruction based on STS 5[cite: 144, 145].
• Homo heidelbergensis: Male. Reconstruction based on Kabwe[cite: 145, 146].
• Homo floresiensis: Female. Reconstruction based on LB-1[cite: 146, 147].
• Homo neanderthalensis: Adult male. Reconstruction based on Shanidar 1[cite: 148, 149].
• Australopithecus afarensis: "Lucy", adult female. Reconstruction based on AL-288-1[cite: 150, 151].