Timeline of human evolution
The timeline of human evolution outlines the major events in the evolutionary lineage of the modern human species, Homo sapiens, 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.
It includes brief explanations of the various taxonomic ranks in the human lineage. The timeline reflects the mainstream views in modern taxonomy, based on the principle of phylogenetic nomenclature; in cases of open questions with no clear consensus, the main competing possibilities are briefly outlined.
Overview of taxonomic ranks
A tabular overview of the taxonomic ranking of Homo sapiens (with age estimates for each rank) is shown below.
Timeline
−10 — – −9 — – −8 — – −7 — – −6 — – −5 — – −4 — – −3 — – −2 — – −1 — – 0 — |
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−4500 — – — – −4000 — – — – −3500 — – — – −3000 — – — – −2500 — – — – −2000 — – — – −1500 — – — – −1000 — – — – −500 — – — – 0 — |
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Unicellular life
Animalia
Chordata
Tetrapoda
Mammalia
Primates
Hominidae
Homo
Homo sapiens
See also
References
External links
- Palaeos
- Berkeley Evolution
- History of Animal Evolution Archived 2016-06-27 at the Wayback Machine
- Tree of Life Web Project – explore complete phylogenetic tree interactively
- Human Timeline (Interactive) – Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History (August 2016).