Modern humans belong to the species Homo sapiens, which first emerged at least 300,000 years ago, but possibly as far back as 1 million years ago. And our history goes back much further: the first members of the Homo genus emerged nearly 3 million years ago in Africa.
As technology advances, scientists have been able to piece together how early modern humans arose and migrated around the world, sometimes breeding with close human relatives, such as the Neanderthals and Denisovans.
Even today, humans are still evolving, including in Nepal, where people who have adapted to live in the low-oxygen conditions at high altitudes tend to have more children than those who haven't. Humans may also be evolving through our culture, an idea that learned behaviors we pass on are the "mutations" that can aid survival. Read on to learn more about humans evolved in the past — and continue to do so.
Discover more about human evolution
—Human evolution: Facts about the past 300,000 years of Homo sapiens
—Our mixed-up human family: 8 human relatives that went extinct (and 1 that didn't)
Latest about Human Evolution
Ancient Hobbits slowed down growth during childhood, showing that humans didn't always grow 'bigger and bigger brains'
Hobbits of Flores evolved to be small by slowing down growth during childhood, new research on teeth and brain size suggests.
1 million-year-old skull from China holds clues to the origins of Neanderthals, Denisovans and humans
Reconstruction of a 1 million-year-old skull shows that early human groups split and diversified quickly.
Do humans and chimps really share nearly 99% of their DNA?
The frequently cited 99% similarity between human and chimp DNA overlooks key differences in the genomes.
Homo erectus: Facts about the first human lineage to leave Africa
Homo erectus is associated with a number of firsts in its 2 million years of existence, including being the first hominin to travel out of Africa.
1.8 million-year-old human jawbone discovered in Republic of Georgia — and it may be earliest evidence yet of Homo erectus
A new fossil find in the Republic of Georgia is expanding our understanding of the earliest humans to leave Africa.
Mysterious 300,000-year-old Greek cave skull was neither human nor Neanderthal, study finds
Researchers have dated the mysterious skull from Petralona Cave in Greece to 300,000 years ago and concluded that the fossil belonged to an ancient human group that lived alongside Neanderthals.
The first Americans had Denisovan DNA. And it may have helped them survive.
People with Indigenous American ancestry carry Denisovan genes that Neanderthals passed on when they mated with modern humans.
Gene that differs between humans and Neanderthals could shed light on the species' disappearance, mouse study suggests
A gene called ASDL, which helps synthesize DNA, differs between modern humans and our extinct human relatives. The findings could shed light on why Neanderthals vanished.
