Human ancestor skulls. Five skulls belonging to some ancestors and relatives of modern humans. The three skulls at left are,from bottom left to top centre,Australopithecus africanus (3-1.8 million years ago),Homo habilis (or H. rudolfensis,2.1- 1.6 mya) and Homo erectus (or H. ergaster,1.8-0.3 mya,although the ergaster classification is generally recognised to mean the earlier part of this period). The black skull at upper right is from a modern human (Homo sapiens sapiens) from the Qafzeh site in Israel,which is around 92,000 years old. The pale skull at lower right is from a French Cro-Magnon human,a later form of the same species,from around 22,000 years ago |