Matt Crenson, Reconstructions

Tools tell a more complicated tale of the origin of the human genus

SN Prime | September 5, 2011 | Vol. 1, No. 12

The first animals that could arguably be called “human” made the evolutionary scene a little less than 2 million years ago.

These aren’t folks you’d mistake for modern-day Homo sapiens, or even the GEICO caveman. But they were clearly distinct from their more apelike predecessors.