|- style="text-align:center;" ! style="background: pink;" | Scientific classification |- style="text-align:center;" |
|- valign=top |Kingdom:||Animalia |- valign=top |Phylum:||Chordata |- valign=top |Class:||Mammalia |- valign=top |Order:||Primates |- valign=top |Family:||Hominidae |- valign=top |Subfamily:||Homininae |- valign=top |Genus:||Homo
Linnaeus, 1758 |} |- style="text-align:center; background:pink;" !Species |- | Homo erectus †
Homo ergaster †
Homo floresiensis †
Homo habilis †
Homo heidelbergensis †
Homo neanderthalensis †
Homo rudolfensis †
Homo sapiens |} Homo is the genus that includes humans and their close relatives. All species and subspecies except Homo sapiens sapiens are extinct; the last surviving relative, Homo neanderthalensis, died out 30,000 years ago, although recent evidence suggests that Homo floresiensis lived as recently as 12,000 years ago.
A minority of zoologists consider that the chimpanzees (usually treated in the genus Pan) should also be included in the genus.
Species
The last three have been considered to be subspecies of Homo sapiens, but analysis of mitochondrial DNA from H. neanderthalensis fossils suggests that the difference is great enough to count as a separate species.
See also
References
- Serre et al. No evidence of Neandertal mtDNA contribution to early modern humans. PLoS Biology 2:313–7 (2004).
External links
- Hominid species http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/species.html
Last updated: 02-07-2005 14:57:17