# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The SVG graphics allow the Human Family Tree interactive to be responsive. SVG graphics are overlaid the image and provied scalable interaction with the background image.

# data[].attributes.body
Time: About 300,000 years ago to present

Characteristics

A lighter skeletal build compared to earlier humans. Homo sapiens have very large brains , but can very in size between populations and sexes. The skull has a flat forehead and a light brow ridge. The jaws are also weaker with smaller teeth.

made and used stone tools while also creating specialized tools such as fishhooks, bows and arrows, and sewing needles. They also made tools to create more specialized tools.

Spent a large part of their day foraging plants and hunting and scavenging.

12,000 years ago, modern humans began producing their food and domesticating animals. When farming became a norm, humans began settling all across the globe. These settlements became communities and eventually large enough to become cities.

easily accessible food meant that the population was growing. The modern brains gave humans the ability to interact with each other and their environment in ways that were not achievable before.

These humans built shelters, controlled fire, built social networks, created art, music, personal adornment, rituals, and complex symbols.

# data[].attributes.body
Time: About 400,000 - 40,000 years ago

Characteristics

Bipedalism

Adapted to living in colder environments.

A large and sometimes larger brain than ours that was proportional to their broad bodies. They had large noses to control the temperature of the air, angled cheekbones, bony brow ridges, and a sloping forehead. They also had bony masses on the back of their skull to attach powerful neck muscles.

Neandertals used fire to cook their food and lived in small bands or family units. They lived in caves and in the open.

There is evidence of deliberate burials which indicates a respect for the dead and ritualistic behaviors. Symbolic ornaments and flowers could be found in gravesites. Fossil evidence also shows that they cared for their elderly and disabled.

Neandertals used Mousterian stone tools. This tool technique was considered superior to previous techniques and allowed flakes or a premediated shape to form specific tools.

Neandertals hunted with spears which allowed them to kill big game from a distance. They also sewed animal hides together to create loose fitting clothing.

Neandertals are considered a separate species. There is evidence that they bred with early Homo sapiens, but their species did become extinct as as Homo sapiens moved into Europe.

# data[].attributes.body
Time: About 100,000 – 50,000 years ago

Characteristics

Bipedalism

Due to their small stature, 3 feet 6 inches tall, they had small brains but large teeth, shrugged shoulders, no chins, and large feet for their body size.

They used stone tools to hunt small prey such as rodents and small elephants. They also used these tools to protect themselves from predators.

It is believed that their small stature is from a type of dwarfism. Since Homo floresiensis was isolated to a small island in Indonesia, the dwarfism dominated genetically.

# data[].attributes.body
Time: About 700,000 to 200,000 years ago

Characteristics

Bipedalism

The first early human species to begin moving to colder climates due to their short and wider bodes. They also controlled fire and had use of wooden spears to regularly hunt for their food.

The first species to build shelters and create dwellings out of wood and rock.

Used fire to alter their tools. It is believed that hearths were built as a place to cook their food and socialize.

In Spain, about 30 Homo heidelbergensis bodies were found in a pit. They were deliberately thrown into the pit and it it believed to be part of a ritual. Tools such as handaxes were also found.

# data[].attributes.body
Time: About 1.89 million years ago and 110,000 years ago

Characteristics

Bipedalism

Oldest known early humans to possess human-like features. Possessed elongated legs and shorter arms which are adaption to living mostly on the ground. The braincase has also expanded.

There is also evidence that this species cared for their elderly and sick. It is believed they were social and shared their food.

Their body structure indicates that they needed a large amount of energy to function. Their diet consisted of meat and high protein foods to maintain the energy needed. This meat may have been cooked over fires which helps with the absorption of important vitamins, minerals, and proteins. Cooking the food also made complex carbs digestible which supports their need for high energy.

It is believed they made and used stone tools like handaxes, cleavers, and a broader range of tools.

# data[].attributes.body
Time: About 1.9 to 1.8 million years ago

Characteristics

Bipedalism

A larger braincase, a longer face, and larger molar and premolar teeth  than the Homo habilis. They did not possess strong jaw muscles so it is assumed they also used tools to process their food.

# data[].attributes.body
Time: Approximately 2.4 million to 1.4 million years ago

Characteristics

Bipedalism

Homo habilis retains some ape-like features but has a slightly larger brain-case and smaller face and teeth than Australopithecus, an earlier ancestor.

Marks the beginning of the Lower Paleolithic age with the use of stone tools. The Oldowan tool tradition uses stones to create sharp edges on rocks to be used as tools.

Their diet was broad and they were able to eat a variety of plant matter and animal tissues. They however, did not eat eat hard foods like seeds or dried meat.