Our Human Story

Our Human Story is a guide to our fossil relatives, from what may be the earliest hominins such as Sahelanthropus, dating back six to seven million years, through to our own species, Homo sapiens. Over the past 25 years there has been an explosion of species’ names in the story of human evolution, due both to new discoveries and to a growing understanding of the diversity that existed in the past. Drawing on this new information, as well as their own considerable expertise and practical experience, Louise Humphrey and Chris Stringer explain in clear and accessible language what each of the key species represents, and how it contributes to our knowledge of human evolution.

Louise Humphrey is a researcher in human origins at the Natural History Museum, specializing in reconstructing life history from the skeleton and dentition. Chris Stringer is the Natural History Museum’s research leader in human origins. He is the author of The Complete World of Human Evolution and Lone Survivors.