The Fossil Evidence
It has been said that the entire collection of human fossils could fit in a shoebox. Those days are over. Thousands of fossils of human ancestors and extinct relatives have been unearthed. Each fossil, whether it is a complete skeleton, or a single tooth, contributes significantly to our understanding of human evolution. Of the thousands of fossils, the Museum of Science has selected Array of the so-called "greatest hits."
Sample Fossil:
Click on the photo to learn about this fossil
Browse the Fossil Database
See a list of all of the fossils in our database.
Search the Database
Search through our fossils using your own search criteria, or one of our saved searches.
Fossil Timeline
The fossils listed below are arranged by age in years. Newest fossils are shown first, oldest fossils can be found at the bottom of the page. Here's the abbreviation key.
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- Present
- Cro-Magnon 1 (30,000)
- Amud 1 (45,000)
- La Ferrassie 1 (50,000)
- La Chapelle-Aux-Saints (50,000)
- Qafzeh IX (90,000 - 100,000)
- Skhul V (90,000)
- Dali (200,000)
- Kabwe (300,000)
- Atapuerca 5 (300,000)
- Petralona 1 (300,000 - 400,000)
- Peking Man (400,000 - 500,000)
- Arago XXI (400,000)
- Bodo (600,000)
- ATD6-69 (780,000)
- Sangiran 17 (800,000)
- BOU-VP-2/66 (1 million)
- DNH 7 (1.5 million - 2 million)
- KNM-WT 15000 (1.6 million)
- D2282 (1.7 million)
- KNM-ER 406 (1.7 million)
- D2700 (1.75 million)
- KNM-ER 3733 (1.75 million)
- OH 5 (1.8 million)
- SK 48 (1.8 million)
- KNM-ER 1470 (1.8 million)
- OH 24 (1.8 million)
- KNM-ER 1813 (1.9 million)
- Taung Child (2.3 million)
- KNM-WT 17000 (2.5 million)
- BOU-VP-12/130 (2.5 million)
- Sts 5 (2.5 million)
- KT12/H1 (3 million - 3.5 million)
- A.L.444-2 (3 million)
- A.L.288-1 (3.18 million)
- StW573 (3.3 million)
- KNM-WT 40000 (3.5 million)
- KNM-KP 29281 (4.07 million - 4.17 million)
- ARA-VP-1/129 (4.4 million)
- ALA-VP-2/10 (5.5 million - 5.8 million)
- BAR 1000'00 (5.72 million - 5.88 million)
- TM266-01-060-1 (6 million - 7 million)