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1 / 13 Lucy, you and a Neanderthal Three figures stand at today's end of the time road at their real heights: Lucy at about 1.1 m, you at the height you set, and a Neanderthal man at 1.64 m. The ruler beside them is marked every 10 cm. Walk with WASD or the joystick, look by dragging.
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Guide Parts Controls
01 Lucy, you and a Neanderthal Three figures stand at today's end of the time road at their real heights: Lucy at about 1.1 m, you at the height you set, and a Neanderthal man at 1.64 m. The ruler beside them is marked every 10 cm. Walk with WASD or the joystick, look by dragging.
02 Lucy's species Australopithecus afarensis lived from about 3.85 to 2.95 million years ago. Lucy was a grown woman about 1.1 m tall; the males of her species averaged 1.51 m. She could walk upright and still climb well.
03 Footprints in the ash At Laetoli, Tanzania, three early humans crossed wet volcanic ash 3.6 million years ago. Their trail is almost 27 m long with about 70 prints. Three figures walk it here, back and forth.
04 Ardi Ardipithecus ramidus, 4.4 million years ago. Ardi stood about 1.2 m and walked upright on the ground, but her big toe splayed out to grip branches.
05 Big jaws Paranthropus boisei had the largest cheek teeth of any early human and a crest on top of the skull for its chewing muscles. It lived beside early Homo for about a million years.
06 Making a tool At Olduvai Gorge, Homo habilis knaps stone. Move the Stone tools slider to choose a technique and press Strike at the slab to take flakes off the core.
07 Out of Africa Homo erectus is the first human known outside Africa, from Georgia to China and Java. Its brain averaged about 1050 cm³, and some members stood 1.85 m.
08 Deep in Rising Star Homo naledi had a brain of 465 to 560 cm³ and curved fingers, yet lived only 335,000 to 236,000 years ago, when early Homo sapiens was alive in Africa.
09 By the fire A Neanderthal crouches by a hearth at the mouth of a painted cave. Neanderthal brains averaged about 1500 cm³, larger than ours, and people with ancestors outside Africa carry up to 1 to 4% of their DNA.
10 Denisova Cave The Denisovans were recognised from DNA in a finger bone found in this Siberian cave. A bone from the same cave belonged to a girl with a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father.
11 The Hobbit Homo floresiensis stood about 1.06 m and lived on Flores until about 50,000 years ago. Set the time slider to 50,000 years: five human species were alive.
12 Into the Americas Human footprints at White Sands, New Mexico, are about 23,000 to 21,000 years old. Sea level was lower then, and the Bering land bridge joined Asia and America.
13 Brains at real size Back at today, the shelf holds a brain for every species with a measured size, oldest on the left. Brains also show inside the heads of every figure when this step turns Brains on.
Sahelanthropus One skull, crushed flat, from the Djurab desert in Chad. Whether it walked on two legs is still argued over. Orrorin Known from thigh bones that point to walking upright, about 1.5 times the size of Lucy's. Ardipithecus kadabba Teeth and a few bones from the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. The body size is not known; the figure is chimpanzee-sized. Ardipithecus ramidus "Ardi" walked upright on the ground but had a big toe that splayed out to grip branches. Australopithecus anamensis A 3.8 million year old skull found in 2016 at Woranso-Mille gave this species a face. Australopithecus afarensis Lucy's species. More than 300 individuals are known, and it lasted about 900,000 years. Kenyanthropus A flat-faced skull from West Turkana. Its name means "flat-faced man from Kenya". Australopithecus africanus The Taung Child, found in 1924, was the first early human fossil from Africa that scientists accepted. Australopithecus garhi Found near animal bones with cut marks, close in time to the oldest Oldowan tools. Australopithecus sediba Two skeletons from the Malapa pit, a boy and a woman, about 1.98 million years old. Paranthropus aethiopicus The Black Skull: a big crest on top for chewing muscles, stained dark by minerals. Paranthropus boisei Huge flat cheek teeth. Its nickname comes from the size of its jaws. Paranthropus robustus A heavy-jawed relative from the South African caves, alongside early Homo. Homo habilis Among the first members of our genus, found with stone tools at Olduvai Gorge. Homo rudolfensis The skull KNM-ER 1470 holds about 775 cm³ of brain, more than Homo habilis. Homo ergaster African Homo erectus to some, a species of its own to others. Turkana Boy was 1.6 m tall when he died. Homo erectus The first human known outside Africa, from Georgia to Java, for about 1.8 million years. Homo antecessor From Gran Dolina in Atapuerca, Spain, at least 780,000 years old. Homo heidelbergensis Named from a jaw found near Heidelberg in 1908. Kabwe 1 from Zambia holds about 1300 cm³. Neanderthal Short and strong, built for cold. Many people alive today carry some of their DNA. Denisovan Known first from DNA in a finger bone. There is still no species name. Homo naledi A small brain, yet it lived only 335,000 to 236,000 years ago, deep in the Rising Star cave. Homo floresiensis About 1.06 m tall, with large feet for its size. It lived on Flores until about 50,000 years ago. Homo luzonensis Teeth, finger and toe bones from Callao Cave, Luzon, named in 2019. Body size is not known. Early Homo sapiens Skulls from Jebel Irhoud in Morocco, about 315,000 years old: a modern face with a longer braincase. Homo sapiens Our species. Cro-Magnon 1, found in France in 1868, is about 30,000 years old.
