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Complete rewrite.
The [[genus]] which includes modern humans - ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' and close relatives such as ''[[Homo neanderthalensis]]'' (Neanderthal man).
The [[genus]] which includes modern humans - ''[[Homo sapiens]]'', the genus Homo species is thought to have been in existance for approximately two million years, while our species, including the archaic H. sapians, has occupied only the last 80,000 years or so, H. Hablis 2.1 to 1.7-1.5 million year, H. erectus 1.5 million years to circa 90,000 years and H. Sapians from 80,000 years to the present.
The genus seems to have begun in [[Africa]] with the advent of H. hablis from [[Olduvai Gorge]], [[Tanzania]] and as yet an undifferentiated species from [[Koobi Fora]], [[Kenya]]. It is believed that this or some other early species of Homo diverged from the [[Australopithecines]] more than two millionyears ago. The divergence is readily seen in the fossil recordwhere significant differences in the cranial and post post-cranial skeleton can be seen.
What is not so easily seen, though of equal significance, is the emergence and further development of social and cultural traits that we commonly view as [[human]]. With resect to material culture, ony members of the genus Homo can be confidently shown to have made and used stone tools and to have controlled the use of fire. These extra personal aids enabled Homo (H. erectus) to radiate out of East Africa to the more varied environments of the remainder of the [[Old World]] to produce a distribution of individuals far greater than that of the earlier Australopithecines. It is thought that a variety of Homo species may have existed at this point, including close relatives such as ''[[Homo neanderthalensis]]'' (Neanderthal man). DNA techniques seem to indicate that the original H. sapian community became very small, to the verge of extinction, before prospering.
The principle trends within the genus Homo through time can be summarized as an increase in brain size and complexity, an increase in the complexity of culture and social relationships and an increasing ability to modify the environment.
[[Category:Primates]]
[[Category:Primates]]