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First Fossil Discovered
The Homoneandethalesis is the first fossil to be found that resembles modern day humans. It was discovered in Belgium and had a wide skull with a face protruding out beyond the forehead. -
Darwin's Theory
Darwin proposes the theory that we all come from the same ancestor, specifically one originally located in Africa. The reason for our differences is what he described as "biological inheritance", and that same thing is what caused us to branch off from our ancestors gradually over time. -
"Tuang Child"
In 1924 the skull resembling a modern day human child was found. However, the space the brain occupied in the skull was the size of a small primate. Robert Dart studied this skull and hypothesized it was a part of the chain of evolution humans branched from. At first, it was widely rejected, but after about 20 years the scientific community began to accept it. -
Magaret Mead
Margaret Meade conducted multiple studies on culture and how it affects gender roles and human nature. She made the important discovery that gender roles were not based on biology, but culture instead. This drastically changed the ways that the behavior of older hominid species were researched and thought of. -
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Broom's Discoveries
After completing a career in medicine and retiring, Broom dedicated his life to searching for hominid fossils. He found the first adult Australopithecus africanus in 1936 and discovered the fossil of a new Hominid species in 1938 that he determined was closer to apes than it was to humans. -
Lucy
Lucy was one of the first mostly complete skeletons of a hominid species found. The skeleton was nicknamed Lucy, with its actual species being Australopithecus afarensis. She was one of the first skeletons found that demonstrated the early development of bipedalism. -
Important Footprints Discovered
Mary Leakey and Tim White found 59 footprints that were estimated to be 3.5 million years old. They demonstrated early development of bone structure that allowed for humans to begin to walk on two feet. -
Little Foot
This fossil was discovered in 1994, and completed in 1998. It is the fossil of an early foot, revealing information about how we evolved to walk on two feet. Other fossils were then found that produced what will hopefully be a complete skeleton. Excavations are still in the process, and scientists are hoping to find an even more complete skeleton than Lucy by searching through the same cave. -
Ardipithecus ramidus
In 2009 Tim White and a team of archeologists discovered a species connected to early apes in a valley in Ethiopia. It is around 4 million years old and is thought to be the species that evolved form the first ape like creatures to walk on two feet.
