Homo: Quick Facts

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The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

Oct. 15, 2026

Photos and Videos

Ledi-Geraru jawbone

Diagram tracing the evolutionary split of humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas over the past 12 million years, with skull illustrations for key hominin species and African great apes, and branching lines showing divergence points.

Chart displaying the ages and locations of major Homo sapiens and related fossil finds across Africa, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, with colored bars representing the time spans of each archaeological site over the past 600,000 years.

A diagram showing the tentative evolutionary relationships among hominid species over the past four million years, with skull images and labeled species names connected by solid and dotted lines to indicate proposed evolutionary pathways.

A timeline chart showing the evolution of hominins over the past 4 million years, with colored bars representing different Australopithecus and Homo species diverging over time, ending with Homo sapiens at present.

What was the first human species?

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Topics

Homo sapiens Homo erectus Neanderthal Homo habilis Homo floresiensis Homo heidelbergensis Homo naledi Homo antecessor Homo rudolfensis Human Ancestors Ardipithecus

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