The clade currently represented by humans and the genus Pan ( chimpanzees and bonobos) splits from the ancestors of the gorillas between c. 12 to 8 Ma. [31] The theory that extinctions due to environmental conditions hurt specialist species more than generalist ones, leading to greater evolution among specialists. Red Queen hypothesis Wanting to understand who we are, where we come from and how we evolved is part of what makes us human. Richter, D., Grun, R., Joannes-Boyau, R., Steele, T. E., Amani, F., Rue, M., et al. 2017. The age of the hominin fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, and the origins of the Middle Stone Age. Nature 546:293–6. doi: 10.1038/nature22335

The Evolution of Humans | World Civilization - Lumen Learning The Evolution of Humans | World Civilization - Lumen Learning

The journey of human evolution, Homo sapiens, has been a topic of great biological interest. The idea that man is a creation of a super­natural power prevailed for a long time. However, biologists view the process of human evolution using knowledge on morphology, physiology, embryology, and fossil records. The ‘multi-regional’ model proposes that the evolution of Homo sapiens took place in several places over a long time. The mixing of the various populations eventually led to the single Homo sapiens species we see today. Earliest Ancestor Neanderthals were a separate species from humans. Although they had larger brain capacity and interbred with humans, they eventually died out.Harmand, S., Lewis, J. E., Feibel, C. S., Lepre, C. J., Prat, S., Lenoble, A., et al. 2015. 3.3-million-year-old stone tools from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya. Nature 521:310–5. doi: 10.1038/nature14464 throughout the history of life, beginning some 4 billion years ago down to recent evolution within H. sapiens during and since the Last Glacial Period. The timeline of human evolution outlines the major events in the evolutionary lineage of the modern human species, Homo sapiens, Evolution occurs when there is change in the genetic material -- the chemical molecule, DNA -- which is inherited from the parents, and especially in the proportions of different genes in a population. Genes represent the segments of DNA that provide the chemical code for producing proteins. Information contained in the DNA can change by a process known as mutation. The way particular genes are expressed – that is, how they influence the body or behavior of an organism -- can also change. Genes affect how the body and behavior of an organism develop during its life, and this is why genetically inherited characteristics can influence the likelihood of an organism’s survival and reproduction. Let man visit Ouranoutang in domestication, hear its expressive whine, see its intelligence when spoken to; as if it understands every word said - see its affection. - to those it knew. - see its passion & rage, sulkiness, & very actions of despair; ... and then let him boast of his proud pre-eminence ... Man in his arrogance thinks himself a great work, worthy the interposition of a deity. More humble and I believe true to consider him created from animals.’

Human Evolution – the facts | National Geographic

A number of theories examine the relationship between environmental conditions and human evolution. The 160,000-year-old skulls of two adults and a child at Herto, Ethiopia, were classified as the subspecies Homo sapiens idaltu because of slight morphological differences including larger size. But they are otherwise so similar to modern humans that some argue they aren’t a subspecies at all. A skull discovered at Ngaloba, Tanzania, also considered Homo sapiens, represents a 120,000-year-old individual with a mix of archaic traits and more modern aspects like smaller facial features and a further reduced brow. Debate over the definition of which fossil remains represent modern humans, given these disparities, is common among experts. So much so that some seek to simplify the characterization by considering them part of a single, diverse group. H. habilis is intermediate between Australopithecus afarensis and H. erectus, and there have been suggestions to re-classify it within genus Australopithecus, as Australopithecus habilis. is estimated to have lived between roughly 10 to 5 million years ago. Both chimpanzees and humans have a larynx that repositions during the first two years of life to a spot between the pharynx and the lungs, indicating that the common ancestors have this feature, a precondition for vocalized speech in humans.

H. sapiens lost the brow ridges from their hominid ancestors as well as the snout completely, though their noses evolve to be protruding (possibly from the time of H. erectus). By 200 ka, humans had stopped their brain expansion. Callaway, E. 2018. Israeli fossils are the oldest modern humans ever found outside of Africa. Nature 554:15–6. doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-01261-5