Human Evolution Timeline
Above: Human evolution timeline
It’s not that hard to get in contact with your ancestors. Follow a forest path and, as you walk, think of them and of a world not so different from our own. Perhaps they were not what you would call human, but they sweated in the sun and tired, just as you do. They paused and rested in the shade, just as you have on summer hikes. They felt hunger, thirst, lust and pain. And when you look around and see the maples in autumn, and the lofty oaks, and hear the crunch of leaves underfoot, you’re only doing what they did long ago. You walk the same hills. The same birds sing. And if you close your eyes you can imagine they’re only just ahead, not far down the trail, and that you might soon come to them, perhaps round the very next bend, if they would just stop and wait. You can hear their footsteps, the snort of their breath. You can even feel their desires, little different from your own. Sometimes when I’m in the forest, I feel I only have to turn around to see them following along behind.
The human evolution timeline shown above indicates when each of the various hominid types existed. The bars showing the timespan during which each hominid existed are color coded to indicate genus (all hominids in a given genus have time bars that are the same color).
And at the bottom right portion of this page there are links to detailed articles on each the hominids listed in the human evolution timeline shown above (for a listing of brief information about each hominid, together with thumbnail-sized photos of their skulls, see the human evolution chart). The timeline above covers the last seven million years of human evolution. Note that the time spans shown represent currently available data and will be updated on an ongoing basis as new facts come to light. The time spans shown in this human evolution timeline are based strictly on paleontological data, the most reliable source of information. Together, these hominids represent all of the fossil evidence for human evolution.
The visual format of the timeline allows easy comparison of the lengths of time that different hominids existed, and makes it clear which different types overlapped in time. For example, in the timeline it's immediately obvious that Homo erectus existed longer than any other hominid and coexisted during that time with no less than ten other types of hominids.
*The earliest fossil assigned to Homo rudolfensis, KNM-ER 1470, is of uncertain age (at least 1.9, but perhaps as much as 2.5 million years old).
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