Explore humanity's evolutionary journey from our African origins to becoming Earth's sole human species. Discover how we emerged 300,000 years ago and spread across the globe while all other human species disappeared.

We're used to being the only human species, but that's actually the exception, not the rule. For millions of years, diversity was the norm in human evolution.
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Lena: Hey Miles, I was thinking about something pretty mind-blowing the other day. We're the only human species alive today, but that wasn't always the case, was it?
Miles: Not at all! That's what makes human evolution so fascinating. You know, scientists have identified somewhere between 15 to 20 different species of early humans throughout our evolutionary history. And most of them—actually the majority—left no living descendants.
Lena: Wait, seriously? So we're like... the last ones standing? That's kind of eerie when you think about it.
Miles: Right? And what's even more incredible is how recent our story really is. Our species, *Homo sapiens*, has only been around for about 300,000 years, which sounds like a long time until you consider that life on Earth has existed for billions of years.
Lena: I've always wondered, where did we actually come from? Like, were we always in Africa, or...?
Miles: That's exactly the question! The fossil evidence is pretty clear that humans first evolved in Africa. In fact, all the fossils of early humans who lived between 6 and 2 million years ago come exclusively from Africa. It's only much later that our ancestors began migrating to other continents.
Lena: So we all ultimately trace back to Africa. That's incredible when you think about how spread out humans are today. Let's explore how we went from those early human species to becoming the only humans on the planet.