Discover

The following charts give a brief overview of several notable fossil finds relating to human evolution. As there are thousands of fossils, this overview is not meant to be complete, but does show the most important finds. The fossils are arranged by approximate age as determined by radiometric dating and/or incremental dating. The species name represents current consensus, when there is no clear scientific consensus the other possible classifications are indicated; deprecated classifications may be found on the fossil's page. Not all the fossils shown are considered direct ancestors to ''Homo sapiens'' but are very closely related to direct ancestors and are therefore important to the study of the lineage.

Contents

More than 4 million years old

3 million - 4 million years old

2 million - 3 million years old

1 million - 2 million years old

100,000 - 1 million years old

50,000 - 100,000 years old

Less than 50,000 years old

Abbreviations used in fossil catalog name

See also

References

More than 4 million years old

Image	Name	Age	Species	Date discovered	Place	Discovered by
Image	DPC 2803	>31 mya	''Aegyptopithecus zeuxis''		Egypt	Elwyn Simons
Image	KNM RU 7290	18 mya	''Proconsul africanus''	1948	Kenya	Mary Leakey
Image	KNM WK 16999	16-18 mya	''Afropithecus turkanensis''	1986	Kenya	Richard Leakey
Image	KNM WK 16950	16-18 mya	''Turkanapithecus kalakolensis''	1986	Kenya	Richard Leakey
Image	IGF 11778	8 mya	''Oreopithecus bambolii''	1872	Italy	Paul Gervais
Image	IVPP PA644	8 mya	''Lufengpithecus lufengensis''	1978	China
Image	GSP 15000	8 mya	''Sivapithecus indicus''	1979	Pakistan	D. Pilbeam and S. M. Ibrahim Shah

3 million - 4 million years old

	Name	Age	Species	Date discovered	Place	Discovered by
Laetoli footprint image at Modern Human Origins	Laetoli Footprint	3.7 mya	Bipedal hominid	1976	Tanzania	Mary Leakey
LH 4 image at Modern Human Origins	LH 4	3.6 - 3.8 mya	''Australopithecus afarensis''	1974	Tanzania	Mary Leakey
KNM-WT 40000 image at Modern Human Origins	KNM WT 40000	3.5 mya	''Kenyanthropus platyops''	1999	Kenya	Justus Erus
	Stw 573 (Little foot)	3.3 mya	''Australopithecus ?''	1994	South Africa	Ronald J. Clarke
	DIK-1 (Selam)	3.3 mya	''Australopithecus afarensis''	2000	Ethiopia	Zeresenay Alemseged
	AL 200-1	3 - 3.2 mya	''Australopithecus afarensis''	1975	Ethiopia	Donald Johanson
	AL 129-1	3 - 3.2 mya	''Australopithecus afarensis''	November 1973	Ethiopia	Donald Johanson
	K 12 (Abel)		''Australopithecus bahrelghazali''	1995	Chad	Michel Brunet
	AL 288-1 (Lucy)	3.2 mya	''Australopithecus afarensis''	November 30, 1974	Ethiopia	Donald Johanson
AL444-2 image at Modern Human Origins	AL 444-2	3 mya	''Australopithecus afarensis''	1991	Ethiopia	Bill Kimbel

2 million - 3 million years old

	Name	Age	Species	Date discovered	Place	Discovered by
	STS 5 (Mrs. Ples)	2.6 - 2.8 mya	''Australopithecus africanus''	1947	South Africa	Robert Broom
STS 14 image at Modern Human Origins	STS 14	2.6-2.8 mya	''Australopithecus africanus''	1947	South Africa	Robert Broom
STS 52 image at Modern Human Origins	STS 52		''Australopithecus africanus''
	STS 71	2.5 mya	''Australopithecus africanus''	1947	South Africa	Robert Broom
	Taung 1 (Taung Child)	2.5 mya	''Australopithecus africanus''	1924	South Africa	Raymond Dart
	KNM WT 17000 (The Black Skull)	2.5 mya	''Paranthropus aethiopicus''	1985	Kenya	Alan Walker
	TM 1517	2 mya	''Paranthropus robustus''	1938	South Africa	Gert Terblanche

1 million - 2 million years old

	Name	Age	Species	Date discovered	Place	Discovered by
	KNM ER 1813	1.9 mya	''Homo habilis''	1973	Kenya	Kamoya Kimeu
	KNM ER 1470	1.9 mya	''Homo rudolfensis''	1972	Kenya	Richard Leakey
	SK 48	1.8 mya	''Paranthropus robustus''	1948	South Africa	Robert Broom
	OH 24 (Twiggy)	1.8 mya	''Homo habilis''	1968	Tanzania	Peter Nzube
OH 8 Image of hand at Modern Human Origins	OH 8	1.8 mya	''Homo habilis''	1960	Tanzania
	OH 5 (Zinj or nutcracker man)	1.8 mya	''Paranthropus boisei''	1959	Tanzania	Mary Leakey
	D 2700	1.8 mya	''Homo georgicus''	2001	Georgia
	OH 7	1.75 mya	''Homo habilis''	1960	Tanzania	Jonathan Leakey
	KNM ER 3733	1.75 mya	''Homo ergaster''	1975	Kenya	Bernard Ngeneo
	KNM ER 1805	1.74 mya	''Homo habilis''		Koobi Fora, Kenya
STW 53 image at Modern Human Origins	StW 53	1.5 - 2 mya	''Homo habilis'' sensu Lato or unclassified see Grine et al. 1996	1976	South Africa	A. R. Hughes
SK 847 image at Modern Human Origins	SK 847	1.5 - 2 mya	''Homo habilis'' sensu Lato or unclassified see Grine et al. 1996	1949	South Africa
DNH 7 image at Modern Human Origins	DNH 7 (Eurydice)	1.5 - 2 mya	''Paranthropus robustus''	1994	South Africa	André Keyser
	SK 46	1.5-2 mya	''Paranthropus robustus''	1949	South Africa	Robert Broom
	OH 13	1.7 mya	''Homo habilis''	1963	Tanzania	N. Mbuika
	KNM ER 406	1.7 mya	''Paranthropus boisei''	1969	Kenya	Richard Leakey
	KNM ER 732	1.7 mya	''Paranthropus boisei''	1970	Kenya	Richard Leakey
	KNM ER 23000
	KNM WT 17400	1.7 mya	''Paranthropus boisei''		Kenya
	KNM WT 15000 (Turkana Boy)	1.6 mya	''Homo erectus'' or ''Homo ergaster''	1984	Kenya	Kamoya Kimeu
	KNM ER 3883	1.4 - 1.6 mya	''Homo erectus''		Kenya	Richard Leakey
	Peninj Mandible	1.5 mya	''Paranthropus boisei''	1964	Tanzania	Richard Leakey
Chellean OH 9 Image at Modern Human Origins	OH 9 (Chellean Man)	1.5 mya	''Homo erectus''	1960	Tanzania	Louis Leakey
	KNM ER 992	1.5 mya	''Homo ergaster''	1971	Kenya	Richard Leakey
	KGA 10-525	1.4 mya	''Paranthropus boisei''	1993	Ethiopia	A. Amzaye

100,000 - 1 million years old

	Name	Age	Species	Date discovered	Place	Discovered by
	Sangiran 4	< 1 mya	''Homo erectus''	1939	Indonesia	GHR von Koenigswald
Sangiran 2 image at Modern Human Origins	Sangiran 2	0.7-1.6 mya	''Homo erectus''	1937	Indonesia	GHR von Koenigswald
	Trinil 2 Pithecanthropus-1 or Java Man	.7 - 1 mya	''Homo erectus''	1891	Indonesia	Eugene Dubois
	Ternifine 2-3	700k	''Homo erectus''	1954	Algeria	C. Arsmbourg
Sangiran 17 image at Modern Human Origins	Sangiran 17	700k	''Homo erectus''	1969	Indonesia	S. Sartono
Hexian PA830 image at Modern Human Origins	Hexian	400-500k	''Homo erectus''	1980	China
Zhoukoudian XII image at Modern Human Origins	Zhoukoudian	230-460k	''Homo erectus''	1930's	China
Bodo image at Modern Human Origins	Bodo	600k	''Homo heidelbergensis'' or ''Homo erectus''	1976	Ethiopia	A. Asfaw
	Mauer 1 (Heidelberg Man)	500k	''Homo heidelbergensis''	1907	Germany
	Ndutu
	Sale
Arago XXI image at Modern Human Origins	Arago 21 (Tautavel Man)	400k	''Homo sapiens'' or ''Homo heidelbergensis'' or ''Homo erectus''	1971	France	Henry de Lumley
Steinheim image at Modern Human Origins	Steinheim Skull	350k	''Homo sapiens'' or ''Homo heidelbergensis''	1933	Germany
Petralona 1 image at Modern Human Origins	Petralona 1	250 - 500k	''Homo sapiens'' or ''Homo erectus''	1960	Greece
	Swanscombe Man	250k	''Homo sapiens''	1935	England	Alvan T Marston
	Ngandong 7	250k	''Homo sapiens''	1931	Indonesia	C. ter Haar and G. H. R. von Koenigswald
	Broken Hill 1 (Kabwe Cranium or Rhodesian Man)	125k - 300k	''Homo rhodesiensis'' or ''Homo heidelbergensis''	1921	Zambia	Tom Zwiglaar
Dali image at Modern Human Origins	Dali (fossil)	209k	''Homo heidelbergensis'' or ''Homo sapiens''	1978	China	Shuntang Liu
	LH 18		''Homo sapiens''	1976	Tanzania	Mary Leakey
Omo 1 Image at Modern Human Origins	Omo 1	190 kya	''Homo sapiens''	1967-1974	Ethiopia	Richard Leakey
Omo II Image at Modern Human Origins	Omo 2	?	''Homo sapiens''	?	Ethiopia	Richard Leakey
Herto skull images at ABC Science	Herto remains	160 kya	''Homo sapiens idaltu''	1997 - 2003	Middle Awash Ethiopia	Tim White
	Jebel Irhoud 1	160 kya	''Homo sapiens''	circa 1991	Jebel Irhoud, Morocco
	Jebel Irhoud 2	160 kya	''Homo sapiens''	circa 1991	Jebel Irhoud, Morocco
Jebel Irhoud 3 Mandible Image at PhysOrg.com	Jebel Irhoud 3	160 kya	''Homo sapiens''	circa 1991	Jebel Irhoud, Morocco
	Jebel Irhoud 4	160 kya	''Homo sapiens''	after 1991	Jebel Irhoud, Morocco
Tabun 1 Image at Modern Human Origins	Tabun C1	120k	''Homo neanderthalensis''	1967-1972	Israel	Jelinek

50,000 - 100,000 years old

	Name	Age	Species	Date discovered	Place	Discovered by
Klasies Images at Modern Human Origins	Klasies River Caves	125 ky -75 ky	''Homo sapiens''	1960 onwards	South Africa	Ray Inskeep, Robin Singer, John Wymer, Hilary Deacon
Krapina C Images at Modern Human Origins	Krapina	100K	''Homo neanderthalensis''	1899	Croatia	Dragutin Gorjanović-Kramberger
	Skhul V	90-100k	''Homo sapiens''	1933	Es Skhul, Mount Carmel, Israel	T. McCown and H. Moivus, Jr.
Qafzeh IX/ Image at Modern Human Origins	Qafzeh IX	90-100k	''Homo sapiens / Neanderthal''	1933	Qafzeh, Israel	T. McCown and H. Moivus, Jr.
	Skhul IX		''Homo sapiens ?''		Es Skhul, Mount Carmel, Israel
Qafzeh VI Image at Modern Human Origins	Qafzeh VI	90-100k	''Homo sapiens''	1933	Nazareth, Israel	T. McCown and H. Moivus, Jr.
	La Ferrassie 1	70k	''Homo neanderthalensis''	September 17, 1909	France	R. Capitan and D. Peyrony
	La Quina 5	40-55k	''Homo neanderthalensis''		France
	La Quina 18	40-55k	''Homo neanderthalensis''		France
Mount Circeo 1 Image at Modern Human Origins	Mt. Circeo 1	40-60k	''Homo neanderthalensis''	1939	Italy	Prof. Blanc
Saccopastore 1 Image at Modern Human Origins	Saccopastore 1	60k	''Homo neanderthalensis''		Italy
Gibraltar 1 Image at Modern Human Origins	Gibraltar 1		''Homo neanderthalensis''		Spain
	Shanidar 1	60k - 80k	''Homo neanderthalensis''	1961	Iraq	Ralph Solecki
Amud 1 Image at Modern Human Origins	Amud 1		''Homo neanderthalensis''		Israel
Amud 7 Image at Modern Human Origins	Amud 7		''Homo neanderthalensis''		Israel
	La Chappelle- aux-Saints 1	60k	''Homo neanderthalensis''	August 3, 1908	France	A. and J. Bouyssonie and L. Bardon

Less than 50,000 years old

	Name	Age	Species	Date discovered	Place	Discovered by
	Le Moustier	45k	''Homo neanderthalensis''	1909	France
Neanderthal 1 images at Modern Human Origins	Neanderthal 1	40k	''Homo neanderthalensis''	1856	Germany	Johann Carl Fuhlrott
Qafzeh VI images at Modern Human Origins	Jebel Qafzeh 6	92k - 115k or 30k - 55k	''Homo sapiens''	1930's	Israel	R. Neuville M Stekelis
	NG 6	27 - 53k	''Homo erectus''	1931	Indonesia	C. ter Haar and GHR von Koenigswald
	Hofmeyr Skull	36k	''Homo sapiens''	1952	South Africa
	Cro-Magnon 1	30k	''Homo sapiens''	1868	France	Louis Lartet
	Combe Capelle	30k - 35k	''Homo sapiens''	1909	France	O. Hauser
Predmosti 3 images at Modern Human Origins	Predmost 3	26k	''Homo sapiens''	1894	Czechoslovakia	K.J. Maska
	LB 1 (Hobbit)	18k	''Homo floresiensis'' or ''Homo sapiens'' or ''Homo erectus'' or ?	2003	Indonesia
Minatogawa 1 images at Modern Human Origins	Minatogawa 1	16k - 18k	''Homo sapiens''	1970	Japan
	Tandou	15k	''Homo sapiens''	1967	Australia	Duncan Merrilees
	Wadi Kubbaniya	8k - 20k	''Homo sapiens''	1982	Egypt	Fred Wendorf
Kow Swamp 1 images at Modern Human Origins	Kow Swamp 1	9k - 13k	''Homo sapiens''	1968	Australia	A.G. Thorne
	Afalou 13	8k - 12k	''Homo sapiens''	1920's	Algeria	C. Arambourg
	Wadi Halfa 25	6k - 12k	''Homo sapiens''	1963	Sudan	G. Armelagos, E. Ewing, D. Greene
	Wadjak 1	10k - 12k	''Homo sapiens''	1888	Indonesia	Eugene Dubois
	Tepexpan	11k	''Homo sapiens''	1947	Mexico	H. de Terra
	Cerro Sota 2	11k	''Homo sapiens''	1936	Chile	Junius Bird
	SDM 16704	4.9k - 11.8k	''Homo sapiens''	1929	United States	M.J. Rogers
	Lo 4b	6k - 9k	''Homo sapiens''	1965-1975	H. Robbins B.M. Lynch
	Kerma 27	3.5k	''Homo sapiens''	1913-1916	Sudan	G.A. Reisner
	Ötzi the Iceman	3.3k	''Homo sapiens''	1991	Ötztal Alps (between Austria and Italy)	Helmut and Erika Simon
	Five Knolls 18	1.5k - 3.5k	''Homo sapiens''	1925-1929	England
	Humboldt Sink	<1500 years	''Homo sapiens		United States
	SCDG K102	300 - 400 years	''Homo sapiens''	1982	United States	C.S. Larsen

Abbreviations used in fossil catalog name

★ AL - Afar Locality, Ethiopia

★ ARA-VP - Aramis Vertebrate Paleontology, Ethiopia

★ BOU-VP - Bouri Vertebrate Paleontology, Ethiopia

★ ER - East (Lake) Rudolf, Kenya

★ KGA - Konso-Gardula, Ethiopia

★ KNM - Kenya National Museum

★ KP - Kanapoi, Kenya

★ OH - Olduvai Hominid, Tanzania

★ SK - Swartkrans, South Africa

★ Sts,Stw - Sterkfontein, South Africa

★ TM - Transvaal Museum, South Africa

★ TM - Toros-Menalla, Chad

★ WT - West (Lake) Turkana, Kenya

See also

★ List of fossil sites

★ List of transitional fossils

★ List of notable fossils

★ Human evolution

References

★ Extinct Humans, Tattersall, Ian, Schwartz, Jeffery, , , Westview Press, Boulder CO, , ISBN 0-8133-3482-9

★ Human Origins: the fossil record, Larsen, Clark Spencer, Matter, Robert M, Gebo, Daniel L, , , Waveland Press, Prospect Heights, IL, , ISBN 0-88133-575-4

★ Smithsonian Human Origins Program

★ Prominent Hominid Fossils

★ Grine, F.E, Jungers, W.L, Schultz, J. (1996) Phenetic Affinities Among Early Homo Crania from East and South Africa. ''Journal of Human Evolution'' 30 pp.189-225