Genes and the environment influence human biological variation in visible characteristics, physiology, disease susceptibility, mental abilities, body size, and life span. Since then, a number of civilizations have risen and fallen, while a number of sociocultural and technological developments have resulted in significant changes to the human lifestyle.

The Neolithic Revolution, which began in Southwest Asia around 13,000 years ago (and separately in a few other places), saw the emergence of agriculture and permanent human settlement in turn, this led to the development of civilization and kickstarted a period of continuous (and ongoing) population growth and rapid technological change.

Humans began exhibiting behavioral modernity about 160,000–60,000 years ago. Multiple hypotheses for the extinction of archaic human species such as Neanderthals include competition, violence, interbreeding with Homo sapiens, or inability to adapt to climate change.įor most of their history, humans were nomadic hunter-gatherers. Migrating out of Africa, they gradually replaced and interbred with local populations of archaic humans. Anatomically modern humans emerged around 300,000 years ago in Africa, evolving from Homo heidelbergensis or a similar species. All other members of the genus Homo, which are now extinct, are known as archaic humans, and the term 'modern human' is used to distinguish Homo sapiens from archaic humans. As of April 2024, there are estimated to be more than 8 billion humans alive.Īlthough some scientists equate the term 'humans' with all members of the genus Homo, in common usage it generally refers to Homo sapiens, the only extant member. Humans are also highly curious: the desire to understand and influence phenomena has motivated humanity's development of science, technology, philosophy, mythology, religion, and other frameworks of knowledge humans also study themselves through such domains as anthropology, social science, history, psychology, and medicine. As such, social interactions between humans have established a wide variety of values, social norms, languages, and traditions (collectively termed institutions), each of which bolsters human society. Humans are highly social, with individual humans tending to belong to a multi-layered network of cooperating, distinct, or even competing social groups – from families and peer groups to corporations and political states. Humans have large brains, enabling more advanced cognitive skills that enable them to thrive and adapt in varied environments, develop highly complex tools, and form complex social structures and civilizations. They are great apes characterized by their hairlessness, bipedalism, and high intelligence. Humans ( Homo sapiens) or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus Homo.

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