Some scientists believe that the similarity of the DNA in our bodies shows that all humans today are descended from a single woman, nicknamed 'Eve', who lived in Africa just 200,000 years ago. Others argue that because fossils of Homo erectus are found not only in Africa, but also in Asia and Europe, Homo sapiens evolved separately in different parts of the world. He had a large face and rugged body. He also had a brain bigger than ours, wore clothes and knew how to paint. The first humans physically identical to us, called Homo sapiens sapiens, appeared about 30,000 years ago.
Hominid branches A few of the early hominids are shown below.
The line begins with the oldest known Australopithecine, named 'Lucy'. Both 'Lucy' and Neanderthal man are from branches of the hominid family that died out, and are probably not direct ancestors of ours. Australopithecus 'Lucy' fossils from Ethiopia are about 3 million years old. Homo erectus , as tall as a human, from about 1.5 million years ago. Neanderthal man lived in Europe and Asia about 100,000 to 30,000 years ago.