Meet Your Hominid Ancestors

Sahelanthropus tchadensis

Lived: About 7 million to 6 million years ago in West-Central Africa

Our earliest known human relative, Sahelanthropus tchadensis, displayed both ape and human features. Only cranial fossils have been found so far in modern-day Chad. This species had small canine teeth and walked upright on two legs instead of four—two characteristics that separate us from apes.
Anthropology Molecular and Imaging Synthesis of Toulouse specimen/Wikimedia Commons.
Ardipithecus ramidus

Lived: About 4.4 million years ago in Eastern Africa

Average male: Unknown height and weight

Average female: 3’11”, 110 pounds

Was Ardipithecus ramidus bipedal, or did it hang out in the trees? Scientists suspect this early human ancestor did both. Ar. ramidus fossils show a divergent larger toe and a rigid foot—evidence of walking on two legs. But pelvis reconstructions suggest it had adaptations for both tree-climbing and bipedalism. Ar. ramidus had teeth suitable for a diet of plants, meat, and fruit, but no nuts—perhaps providing the first example of a helicopter parent panicking over an errant peanut.

Cover of Science Magazine/Illustration by J. Matternes.
Australopithecus afarensis

Lived: Between 3.85 million and 2.95 million years ago in Eastern Africa

Average male: 4’11”, 92 pounds

Average female: 3’5”, 62 pounds

Lucy, the one-name diva of the Australopithecus clan, and her posse roamed East Africa for nearly 900,000 years—more than four times as long as modern humans have hung around Earth. They walked on two legs and had flat noses and strongly projecting lower faces. Like chimpanzees, they had childhoods and adolescent periods of teenage angst that were brief compared with those of modern humans.

Photo by Dave Einsel/Getty Images.
Australopithecus africanus

Lived: Between 3.3 million and 2.1 million years ago in Southern Africa

Average male: 4’6”, 90 pounds

Average female: 3’9”, 66 pounds

Living amid numerous predators, Australopithecus africanus weren’t always at the top of the food chain, and they likely lived in groups for protection against predators. With a combination of human and ape features, they were anatomically similar to their cousins Au. afarensis. The first Au. africanus fossil to be discovered, in 1924, was known as the Taung child. Paleontologists have since realized that damage to the fossil’s skull indicates that the child was captured and eaten by a giant eagle. The fossil established that the earliest human ancestors lived in Africa.

Zdenek Burian/AFP/Getty Images.
Paranthropus boisei

Lived: Roughly 2.3 million to 1.2 million years ago in Eastern Africa

Average male: 4’6”, 108 pounds

Average female: 4’1”, 75 pounds

Paranthropus boisei are best known for their large cheek bones that housed powerful chewing muscles and big teeth. Fossils suggest they munched on both tough foods like nuts and roots and soft foods like fruit. They had the thickest tooth enamel of the early human ancestors.

Tim Evanson/Wikimedia Commons.
Australopithecus sediba

Lived: About 1.95 million and 1.78 million years ago in Southern Africa

Our most recently discovered relative is Australopithecus sediba. Its fossils have characteristics that start to resemble those of our Homo genus, as our ancestors inched further away from our ape cousins. Au. sediba likely walked in an increasingly humanlike way and had facial features that more closely resembled your Aunt Mildred than King Kong, but they still had the small brains and long upper limbs found in our earlier tree-dwelling relatives.

Phiston/Wikimedia Commons.
Homo erectus

Lived: 1.89 million to 143,000 years ago in Northern, Eastern, and Southern Africa; parts of East and West Asia; possibly Europe

Average male and female: 4’9” to 6’1”, 88-150 pounds

As possibly the longest-existing member of human family tree, Homo erectus lasted about nine times as long as modern humans have so far. Its fossils—spread out over at least two continents—are highly varied. Early fossils found in Africa show H. erectus may be the first of our ancestors to have modern-day proportions: elongated legs and shorter arms relative to torso size. Thanks to better hip support that allowed them to walk long distances, they settled into new habitats spanning Africa and Asia. They made tools, including stone tools and tools to butcher large animals, and cared for their old and weak members.

Encyclopaedia Brittanica/UIG/Getty Images.
Homo heidelbergensis

Lived: 700,000 to 200,000 years ago in Northern, Eastern, and Southern Africa; Europe

Average male: 5’9”, 136 pounds

Average female: 5’2”, 112 pounds

Homo heidelbergensis can boast of several firsts among human ancestors. They were the first to build simple shelters out of wood and rock and the first to regularly hunt large animals. They were among the first to inhabit cold European climates. The jury’s still out on other possible firsts, such as earliest control of fire and first use of wooden spears.

Photo by Tim Evanson/Wikimedia Commons.
Homo neanderthalensis

Lived: About 200,000 to 28,000 years in Europe and Asia

Average male: 5’5”, 143 pounds

Average female: 5’1”, 119 pounds

Our closest extinct relative, Neanderthals were possibly the first human ancestors to speak and bury their dead. They hunted large animals, ate plant foods, lived in shelters, wore clothing, and created symbolic or ornamental objects. Their broad bodies, short legs, and large noses, which could humidify and warm cold, dry air, allowed them to survive in cold climates. Neanderthals and modern humans also likely got a little frisky with one another.

Photo by Sebastian Willnow/AFP/Getty Images.
Homo floresiensis

Lived: 95,000 to 17,000 years ago in Flores, Indonesia

Average male: unknown

Average female: 3’6”, 66 pounds

Homo floresiensis, center skull, appears to be the last of our hominin cousins to go extinct. Their fossils have been located on only a single Indonesian island. They had large teeth, recessed chins, large feet relative to short legs, and brains roughly one-third the size of ours. Despite their small bodies and brains, they hunted and may have used fire. Their small stature likely helped them survive on an island with limited resources, and they may have been vulnerable to large predators such as Komodo dragons.

Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images.
Homo sapiens

First appeared: About 200,000 years ago

Modern humans evolved in Africa during a period of climate change roughly 200,000 years ago and shared the planet with a few other human species. We bounced back from a period of near-extinction about 74,000 years ago—at our lowest point, our team amounted to about 10,000 reproducing adults—to introduce Earth to agriculture, animal domestication, Justin Bieber, and a fascination with our extinct predecessors.

Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.