Daksh

7.0 Million Years Ago (mya)

└── SAHELANTHROPUS TCHADENSIS

├── Timeframe: 7.0–6.0 mya

├── Key Discovery: "Toumaï" (Chad, Central Africa)

├── Brain Size: ~350 cc (Chimpanzee-sized)

└── Key Traits: Oldest known hominin; placement of the spinal cord opening (foramen magnum) suggests a transitional form of walking upright.

:

6.0 mya

└── ORRORIN TUGENENSIS

├── Timeframe: 6.1–5.7 mya

├── Key Discovery: Tugen Hills, Kenya

└── Key Traits: Femur (thigh bone) shape strongly indicates bipedalism, but arm bones show they were still adapted for climbing trees.

:

4.4 mya

└── ARDIPITHECUS RAMIDUS

├── Timeframe: 4.4 mya

├── Key Discovery: "Ardi" (Afar Desert, Ethiopia)

├── Brain Size: ~300–350 cc

└── Key Traits: Divergent, grasping big toe for tree climbing, but a rigid foot structure that allowed for clumsy walking on two legs.

:

4.0 mya

└── AUSTRALOPITHECUS AFARENSIS

├── Timeframe: 3.9–2.9 mya

├── Key Discovery: "Lucy" (Hadar, Ethiopia) & Laetoli footprints (Tanzania)

├── Brain Size: ~400–500 cc

└── Key Traits: Fully bipedal but retained long arms for climbing; lacked the large canine teeth of earlier apes.

:

3.0 mya

└── AUSTRALOPITHECUS AFRICANUS

├── Timeframe: 3.3–2.1 mya

├── Key Discovery: "Taung Child" (South Africa)

├── Brain Size: ~450–550 cc

└── Key Traits: Rounder cranium housing a slightly larger brain; less ape-like facial features than A. afarensis.

:

2.4 mya

└── HOMO HABILIS

├── Timeframe: 2.4–1.4 mya

├── Meaning: "Handy Man" (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania)

├── Brain Size: ~500–700 cc (Significant brain expansion)

└── Key Traits: First widespread, confirmed use of stone tools (Oldowan tool industry); smaller teeth and a flatter face.

:

1.9 mya

└── HOMO ERECTUS

├── Timeframe: 1.89 million to 110,000 years ago

├── Key Discovery: Turkana Boy (Kenya), Java Man (Indonesia), Peking Man (China)

├── Brain Size: ~700–1,100 cc

└── Key Traits: First hominin to leave Africa; first to master fire and cook food; created advanced Acheulean handaxes; possessed modern human body proportions.

:

700,000 Years Ago

└── HOMO HEIDELBERGENSIS

├── Timeframe: 700,000–200,000 years ago

├── Locations: Africa, Europe, and Asia

├── Brain Size: ~1,200 cc

└── Key Traits: Direct ancestor to both Neanderthals and Homo sapiens; built temporary wooden shelters and used spears to hunt large game.

:

300,000 Years Ago

├── HOMO NEANDERTHALENSIS (The Neanderthals)

│ ├── Timeframe: 400,000–40000 years ago

│ ├── Locations: Europe and Southwestern/Central Asia

│ ├── Brain Size: ~1,400–1,600 cc (Larger than modern humans, but shaped differently)

│ └── Key Traits: Stocky, cold-adapted bodies; buried their dead; used advanced tools; controlled fire and language; interbred with Homo sapiens.

│

└── HOMO SAPIENS (Anatomically Modern Humans)

├── Timeframe: 300,000 years ago to the Present

├── Origin: Africa, then expanded globally

├── Brain Size: ~1,350 cc average

└── Key Traits: High, rounded skull with a vertical forehead and a distinct chin; highly complex language, symbolic thought, art, global agriculture, and civilization.