Episode 9 - A Short History of You: Mammals to Modern Humans

Here we trace the evolution of humans from mammals to modern humans. The discussion covers the extinction of the dinosaurs  and how mammals took over their environmental niches; the emergence of primates from the pro simians to monkeys, apes, chimpanzees,  and finally the hominids and hominins The discussion includes the discovery of Lucy and the fossilized footprints of A. afarensis,  Other archaic species of Homo are mentioned including habilis, ergaster, erectus, heidelbergensis, neanderthalis, the denisovans and floresnsis  and the recent discoveries of hominin remains  in a cave on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The evidence of interbreeding between many of these hominin species is discussed as well as speculation as to why we humans, Homo sapiens, are the only species of Homo remaining..