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Australopithecus sediba
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/australopithecus-sediba/

This hominin species was announced in 2010 and has scientists hotly debating its validity as a species and its relationships to other hominins, in particular its relationship to our genus Homo.

Sahelanthropus tchadensis
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/sahelanthropus-tchadensis/

Claimed as one of the most significant discoveries in the field of human evolution, the fossils possibly represent the oldest known human ancestor after the split of the human line from that of the chimpanzees. However, this is hotly debated.

Homo ergaster
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/homo-ergaster/

Homo ergaster was the first of our ancestors to look more like modern humans. These people were generally tall and slender and may also have been relatively hairless. Not everyone accepts this species name, some still prefer to use the term African Homo erectus.

Homo habilis
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/homo-habilis/

The earliest of our ancestors to show a significant increase in brain size and also the first to be found associated with stone tools.

Homo neanderthalensis – The Neanderthals
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/homo-neanderthalensis/

Neanderthals co-existed with modern humans for long periods of time before eventually becoming extinct about 28,000 years ago. The unfortunate stereotype of these people as dim-witted and brutish cavemen still lingers in popular ideology but research has revealed a more nuanced picture.

Australopithecus bahrelghazali
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/australopithecus-bahrelghazali/

This species lived about 3.6 million years ago and is the first from the genus Australopithecus to be discovered outside of southern and eastern Africa.

Homo rudolfensis
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/homo-rudolfensis/

This early human lived about 2 million years ago, but its place on our family tree is debated.

Ardipithecus kadabba
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/ardipithecus-kadabba/

This early hominin lived over 5 million years ago in East Africa.

Ardipithecus ramidus
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/ardipithecus-ramidus/

Discovered in the 1990s, this is one of the earliest of our hominin ancestors yet discovered.

When did modern humans get to Australia?
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/the-spread-of-people-to-australia/

Archaeological evidence shows that modern humans had reached South-east Asia by 70,000 years ago and that they had spread to Australia by at least 50,000 years ago.