It's a good question. When you hear that the oldest human ancestor fossil was just found, do you wonder how scientists know that the ancient bones belong to something related to us? How do we know that our great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- ... grandparent was this animal?
This site will explore how scientists understand our evolutionary history by considering the facts and interpretations of the human fossil record. Read on.
Browse or search our database of human ancestor fossils. View our fossils on a timeline. View, download, or print fact sheets for any fossils.
Intrepret fossil evidence: See how three leading paleoanthropologists: Meave Leakey, Ian Tattersall, and Tim White compare the fossil record.
A paper by Jerry DeSilva
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