The story of our evolution began in Africa about six million years ago and it describes the very long process that our ancestors went through to ultimately become modern humans. Scientists believe that our common ancestor existed 5-8 million years ago. At that time, two species broke off into separate lineages, one ultimately evolving into gorillas and chimpanzees, the other into early humans called hominins.

In the millions of years that followed, at least a dozen different species of humanlike creatures have existed and are reflected in fossil discoveries, although many of these are close relatives and not actual ancestors of modern humans. It is important to remember the line of ancestry does not represent a straight line to us. Many of these early hominids left no descendants and simply died out. Still, others are very likely direct ancestors of modern humans. While scientists still do not know the total number of hominid species that existed, because new fossils are continually being discovered, the story of human evolution becomes clearer all the time.