
The timeline of human evolution outlines the major events in the evolutionary lineage of the
modern human species, ''
Homo sapiens
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
'',
throughout the
history of life
The history of life on Earth traces the processes by which living and fossil organisms evolved, from the earliest emergence of life to present day. Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago (abbreviated as ''Ga'', for ''gigaannum'') and evide ...
, beginning some 4 billion years ago down to
recent evolution within ''H. sapiens'' during and since the
Last Glacial Period.
It includes brief explanations of the various
taxonomic rank
In biological classification, taxonomic rank is the relative level of a group of organisms (a taxon) in an ancestral or hereditary hierarchy. A common system consists of species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom, domain. While ol ...
s in the human lineage. The timeline reflects the mainstream views in
modern taxonomy, based on the principle of
phylogenetic nomenclature;
in cases of open questions with no clear consensus, the main competing possibilities are briefly outlined.
Overview of taxonomic ranks
A tabular overview of the
taxonomic rank
In biological classification, taxonomic rank is the relative level of a group of organisms (a taxon) in an ancestral or hereditary hierarchy. A common system consists of species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom, domain. While ol ...
ing of ''
Homo sapiens
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
'' (with age estimates for each rank) is shown below.
Timeline
Unicellular life
Animalia
Chordata
Tetrapoda
Mammals
Primates
Hominidae
Homo
Homo sapiens
See also
*
Evolution of human intelligence
The evolution of human intelligence is closely tied to the evolution of the human brain and to the origin of language. The timeline of human evolution spans approximately seven million years, from the separation of the genus '' Pan'' until the eme ...
*
Graphical timeline of the universe
This more than 20-billion-year timeline of our universe shows the best estimates of major events from the universe's beginning to anticipated future events. Zero on the scale is the present day. A large step on the scale is one billion years; a s ...
*
Human evolution
Human evolution is the evolutionary process within the history of primates that led to the emergence of ''Homo sapiens'' as a distinct species of the hominid family, which includes the great apes. This process involved the gradual development o ...
*
Recent human evolution
*
List of human evolution fossils
*
Natural history
*
Human history
Human history, also called world history, is the narrative of humanity's past. It is understood and studied through anthropology, archaeology, genetics, and linguistics. Since the invention of writing, human history has been studied t ...
*
History of Earth
The history of Earth concerns the development of planet Earth from its formation to the present day. Nearly all branches of natural science have contributed to understanding of the main events of Earth's past, characterized by constant geolog ...
*
Timeline of prehistory
*
Timeline of the evolutionary history of life
The timeline of the evolutionary history of life represents the current scientific theory outlining the major events during the development of life on planet Earth. Dates in this article are consensus estimates based on scientific evidence, mai ...
*
List of timelines
This is a list of timelines currently on Wikipedia.
Overview
There are several types of timeline articles.
*''Historical timelines'' show the significant historical events and developments for a specific topic, over the course of centuries or ...
References
External links
PalaeosBerkeley EvolutionHistory of Animal EvolutionTree of Life Web Project– explore complete phylogenetic tree interactively
Human Timeline (Interactive)–
Smithsonian,
National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with ...
(August 2016).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timeline Of Human Evolution
Human evolution
Human evolution is the evolutionary process within the history of primates that led to the emergence of ''Homo sapiens'' as a distinct species of the hominid family, which includes the great apes. This process involved the gradual development o ...
Evolution-related timelines
*