Our Ancient Family

Our Ancient Family Story: A Timeline of Human Origins

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### **Sahelanthropus tchadensis (7–6 million years ago)**

This little ancestor lived in the woodlands and grasslands of Central Africa.

Life was simple and full of challenges. Sahelanthropus might have walked on two feet sometimes, but probably still climbed trees for safety and fruit.

Predators lurked nearby, so staying close to the trees was important.

Its days were filled with foraging for berries, nuts, and leaves, using sharp teeth to crunch through tough plants.

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### **Orrorin tugenensis (6.1–5.7 million years ago)**

In the hills of what is now Kenya, *Orrorin* lived among dense forests.

They were a little taller than Sahelanthropus and had strong arms for swinging between branches, but also legs that suggest walking upright.

Life meant climbing for figs, searching for water, and avoiding big cats and snakes.

At night, Orrorin might have slept in the trees, keeping safe from predators that prowled the ground.

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### **Ardipithecus (kadabba & ramidus) (5.8–4.4 million years ago)**

Ardi’s world was a mix of woodland and grassland.

She had a grasping big toe, so she could climb trees easily — but she also walked upright when she wanted to explore on the ground.

Life was about balancing two homes: the safety of the trees and the opportunities of the earth below.

Ardipithecus lived in small groups, probably gathering fruit, seeds, and insects together.

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### **Australopithecines (4.2–1.9 million years ago)**

By the time of the australopithecines, life had moved more into open savannahs.

Lucy and her relatives walked upright most of the time. They may have carried food in their hands, or even young children.

Their lives were full of movement: scavenging meat left behind by lions, cracking nuts with stones, and hiding from hyenas.

Groups gave safety, so they may have lived in families, working together to watch for danger.

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### **Homo habilis (2.4–1.5 million years ago)**

Homo habilis was clever — the “Handy Man.”

Their days were spent using sharp stones to cut meat or crack open animal bones for marrow.

They lived in a warmer, drier Africa with open plains and scattered forests.

Fire wasn’t yet controlled, so nights were still dark and dangerous.

But their bigger brains allowed more planning, maybe even sharing food and working together to build a safe camp.

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### **Homo erectus / Homo ergaster (1.9 million – 100,000 years ago)**

Life with *Homo erectus* looked very different.

They were travelers — the first to leave Africa and explore Asia and Europe.

They controlled fire, so nights were warmer, food could be cooked, and predators could be scared away.

They made hand axes, shaped carefully for cutting, chopping, and digging.

Families might have gathered around the fire in the evening, eating roasted meat and roots, telling the first wordless “stories” through gesture and sound.

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### **Homo heidelbergensis (600,000 – 200,000 years ago)**

These strong hunters faced colder weather.

They built shelters out of wood and stone, wore animal skins, and worked together to hunt large animals like deer, horses, or even mammoths.

Children would have learned early how to shape wooden spears or help in hunts.

Living in family groups, they may have begun to form the early roots of culture — planning, teaching, and even rituals.

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### **Neanderthals (400,000 – 40,000 years ago)**

Life for the Neanderthals was tough but full of care.

They lived in caves during the Ice Age, wearing furs and using fire to survive the cold.

They painted caves, crafted jewelry, and likely told stories around the fire.

When someone was sick or injured, others helped care for them. When someone died, they were buried, sometimes with flowers or tools.

Their world was harsh, but they were not just survivors — they were thinkers, artists, and caregivers.

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### **Denisovans (700,000 – 30,000 years ago)**

The Denisovans lived across Asia, from Siberia to Southeast Asia.

We don’t yet know what they looked like, but they adapted to high mountains, like Tibet, where thin air makes it hard to breathe.

They likely lived in caves and hunted in forests, making tools from stone and bone.

Their DNA lives on today, especially in Indigenous peoples of Oceania and Asia, showing that they mixed and lived alongside both Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.

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### **Homo floresiensis (100,000 – 50,000 years ago)**

On the island of Flores, a very small group of humans thrived.

They were only about three feet tall, but used stone tools to hunt tiny elephants and giant lizards.

Life on the island was unique — with fewer predators, they didn’t need to grow bigger, but instead adapted perfectly to their little world.

They may have lived in caves and shared food, surviving in a way no one else did.

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### **Homo sapiens (300,000 years ago – today)**

And then came us.

*Homo sapiens* appeared in Africa and slowly spread across the world.

Our lives were full of invention: painting on cave walls, shaping tools from bone and ivory, and learning to speak in complex language.

We built boats to sail seas, tamed fire and animals, and created music and stories.

Everywhere we went, we carried with us the memory of the family that came before — Sahelanthropus, Ardi, Lucy, Handy Man, Neanderthals, and many others.

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# 📚 References (APA Style)

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Brown, P., et al. (2004). A new small-bodied hominin from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia. *Nature*, 431(7012), 1055–1061. [https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02999](https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02999)

Hublin, J. J., et al. (2017). New fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco and the pan-African origin of Homo sapiens. *Nature*, 546(7657), 289–292. [https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22336](https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22336)

Johanson, D. C., & Edey, M. A. (1981). *Lucy: The beginnings of humankind*. Simon & Schuster.

Leakey, L. S. B., Tobias, P. V., & Napier, J. R. (1964). A new species of the genus Homo from Olduvai Gorge. *Nature*, 202(4927), 7–9. [https://doi.org/10.1038/202007a0](https://doi.org/10.1038/202007a0)

Reich, D., et al. (2010). Genetic history of an archaic hominin group from Denisova Cave in Siberia. *Nature*, 468(7327), 1053–1060. [https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09710](https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09710)

Rightmire, G. P. (1990). *The evolution of Homo erectus: Comparative anatomical studies of an extinct human species*. Cambridge University Press.

Senut, B., et al. (2001). First hominid from the Miocene (Lukeino Formation, Kenya). *Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences - Series IIA - Earth and Planetary Science*, 332(2), 137–144. [https://doi.org/10.1016/S1251-8050(00)01513-4](https://doi.org/10.1016/S1251-8050%2800%2901513-4)

White, T. D., et al. (2009). Ardipithecus ramidus and the paleobiology of early hominids. *Science*, 326(5949), 64–86. [https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1175802](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1175802)