Hominin evolution

Hominin evolution is the evolutionary history of humans and extinct species more closely related to humans than to chimpanzees, from their divergence from other apes to the present.

Human evolution: The evolutionary history of modern humans, including their emergence from earlier hominins. This narrower history follows the lineage leading specifically to living humans.
Australopithecus afarensis: An East African hominin species that lived about 3.9 to 2.9 million years ago and walked upright. Its fossils preserve early bipedal anatomy alongside adaptations for climbing.
Human–chimpanzee last common ancestor: The ancestral population from which the human and chimpanzee lineages diverged. Hominin evolution begins after this lineage split, not with modern chimpanzees.
Common descent: The principle that species inherit traits from shared ancestors through successive generations. Hominin relationships are reconstructed as branches sharing ancestral populations.
Last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees: The still-unknown ancestral population at the split between the human and chimpanzee lineages. No fossil has been securely identified as this ancestor, leaving its anatomy uncertain.
Hominin: A member of the evolutionary group comprising modern humans and extinct species closer to humans than to chimpanzees. This group defines which branches belong within hominin evolution.
Homo habilis: An early Homo species from Africa, known from fossils dating roughly 2.4 to 1.4 million years ago. It illustrates the early diversity of the genus Homo.
Paleoanthropology: The study of human evolution through fossil, archaeological, and geological evidence. This field reconstructs hominin history from fragmentary remains and their contexts.
Natural selection: A process in which heritable traits affecting reproduction change in frequency across generations. Selection can explain how environmental pressures shaped hominin adaptations.
Hominin species concepts: Methods for deciding whether ancient populations represent separate species or variation within one species. Fragmentary fossils often make species boundaries difficult to establish.

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