Homo erectus spans 1.78 million years in the record, the longest of the 18 groups with a date range; Homo sapiens so far spans 315,000
Source. Same dates as the previous exhibit.
Method and data
Method. Span = earliest minus latest date; groups known from a single date are left out.
| Species | Earliest (million years ago) | Latest (million years ago) | Span (million years) | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homo erectus | 1.89 | 0.11 | 1.78 | Smithsonian Human Origins Program | |
| Australopithecus africanus | 3.3 | 2.1 | 1.2 | Smithsonian Human Origins Program | |
| Paranthropus boisei | 2.3 | 1.2 | 1.1 | Smithsonian Human Origins Program | |
| Sahelanthropus tchadensis | 7 | 6 | 1 | Smithsonian Human Origins Program | |
| Homo habilis | 2.4 | 1.4 | 1 | Smithsonian Human Origins Program | |
| Australopithecus afarensis | 3.85 | 2.95 | 0.9 | Smithsonian Human Origins Program | |
| Ardipithecus kadabba | 5.8 | 5.2 | 0.6 | Smithsonian Human Origins Program | |
| Paranthropus robustus | 1.8 | 1.2 | 0.6 | Smithsonian Human Origins Program | |
| Homo heidelbergensis | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.5 | Smithsonian Human Origins Program | |
| Orrorin tugenensis | 6.2 | 5.8 | 0.4 | Smithsonian Human Origins Program | |
| Australopithecus anamensis | 4.2 | 3.8 | 0.4 | Smithsonian Human Origins Program | |
| Paranthropus aethiopicus | 2.7 | 2.3 | 0.4 | Smithsonian Human Origins Program | |
| Homo neanderthalensis | 0.4 | 0.04 | 0.36 | Smithsonian Human Origins Program | |
| Homo sapiens | 0.315 | 0 | 0.315 | living | Richter et al., Nature, 2017 |
| Homo antecessor | 0.949 | 0.772 | 0.177 | Duval et al., Quaternary Geochronology, 2018 | |
| Homo rudolfensis | 1.9 | 1.8 | 0.1 | Smithsonian Human Origins Program | |
| Homo naledi | 0.335 | 0.236 | 0.099 | Smithsonian Human Origins Program | |
| Homo floresiensis | 0.1 | 0.06 | 0.04 | Sutikna et al., Nature, 2016 |
