Evolution of the skull (exterior view): bony case of the brain of vertebrates.
Human evolution is the part of biological evolution concerning the emergence of humans as a distinct species. It is the subject of a broad scientific inquiry that seeks to understand and describe how this change and development occurred. The study of human evolution encompasses many scientific disciplines, most notably physical anthropology, linguistics and genetics. The term "human", in the context of human evolution, refers to the genus Homo, but studies of human evolution usually include hominid, such as the australopithecines.

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Australopithecus afarensis and Australopithecus africanus are among the most famous of the extinct hominids. A. africanus used to be regarded as ancestral to the genus Homo. However, fossils assigned to the genus Homo have been found that are older than A. africanus. Thus, the genus Homo either split off from the genus Australopithecus at an earlier date, or both developed from a yet possibly unknown common ancestor independently. The brains of most species of Australopithecus were roughly 35% of the size of that of a modern human brain.

Animation : Homininae

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