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
Crimean Stone Age 'crayons' were used by Neanderthals for symbolic drawings, study claims
Scientists have discovered Stone Age "crayons" in Crimea, hinting that Neanderthals may have used them for symbolic drawings or markings. But not everyone agrees.
Differences in red blood cells may have 'hastened the extinction' of our Neanderthal cousins, new study suggests
Gene variants in red blood cell function may have doomed the hybrid babies of Neanderthals and modern humans.
Did Neanderthals eat anything other than meat?
Neanderthals were meat eaters, but new analyses show that their diets included other morsels.
Neanderthals were more susceptible to lead poisoning than humans — which helped us gain an advantage over our cousins, scientists say
Humans and our ancestors have been exposed to lead for 2 million years, but the toxic metal may have actually helped our species to develop language — giving us a key advantage over our Neanderthal cousins, scientists claim.
Neanderthals could be brought back within 20 years — but is it a good idea?
With today's technology, we cannot bring back Neanderthals. But even if future advances allow it, should we?
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.