human being: Quick Facts

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The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

Sep. 27, 2026

Facts

Also Known As	human • human race • man • mankind

Photos and Videos

Vintage anatomy chart showing front and back views of the human skeletal system and muscular system, with detailed illustrations of bones and muscles.

embryos of different animals

Side-by-side anatomical illustrations compare the bones of a primitive carpus and a human carpus, highlighting the carpal, metacarpal, and phalange bones in different colors, with labels for each bone group.

human and gorilla hands compared

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.

Illustration showing side-by-side reconstructions of five hominins in the human lineage: Australopithecus afarensis, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis, and Homo sapiens, with each figure labeled and depicted in a walking pose to highlight evolutionary changes in posture and body structure. A scale bar at the top right indicates relative height.

A chart compares the maximum life spans of various animals, using icons and color coding for mammals, birds, other vertebrates, and invertebrates. Lifespans range from the mayfly at less than a year to the Greenland shark at 500 years, with humans, elephants, whales, birds, and reptiles shown at various points along the timeline. Measurement intervals are marked in years, with a key at the bottom explaining the color categories.

Illustration comparing the body plans of representative anthropoids, showing a male western lowland gorilla, a male human, a male bonobo, a female Bornean orangutan, and male and female northern white-cheeked gibbons, all labeled and depicted to scale.

Side-by-side illustration of four skulls: Australopithecus afarensis, Homo erectus, Homo sapiens, and a modern chimpanzee, showing evolutionary changes such as increasing brain size and smaller jaws and teeth.

The video thumbnail image shows two black and white photos of monkey and ape heads, surrounded by blue and pink circles.

What happens to a person's biological clock in isolation?

Uncover the genome similarities and differencess between chimpanzees and human beings

Genetically modified humans

How biological clocks influence daily behavior

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Topics

Race person Anthropology Philosophical anthropology human evolution Homo sapiens human body human genome Anthropocene Epoch activities of daily living political system social science slavery crime government Culture war social change social structure terrorism

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Key People

Hwang Woo Suk and Gerald Schatten

Hwang Woo-Suk

South Korean scientist

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Severino Antinori

Italian gynecologist and embryologist

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Moon Shin Yong

South Korean obstetrician

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Irene Barnes Taeuber

American sociologist

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Conrad Taeuber

American sociologist

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Herophilus

Alexandrian physician

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Elman Rogers Service

American anthropologist

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin

British naturalist

Thomas Robert Malthus

Thomas Malthus

English economist and demographer

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Arthur F. Bentley

American political scientist

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Kingsley Davis

American sociologist

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Gustav Ratzenhofer

Austrian general and sociologist

Lankester, Edwin Ray

Sir Edwin Ray Lankester

British zoologist

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William Shippen, Jr.

American educator

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William W. Howells

American anthropologist

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Franz Weidenreich

German anthropologist

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Richard Cantillon

Irish economist

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Sir Alexander Carr-Saunders

British educator

Belon, detail from an engraving

Pierre Belon

French naturalist

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Georg Simmel

German sociologist

Giraffe standing in grass, Kenya.

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