1. Homo georgicus This “link species” between Homo habilis and Homo erectus was found Georgia in 1999 and is believed to be at least 1.8 million years old. Their skulls were quite tiny, but who needs brains when you got brawn! These homies settled in Europe around 800,000 years ago.

2. Homo ergaster (“working man”) Let’s travel to South-East Africa now, 1.9-1.4 million years BC. The “working man” was a lot like H. erectus, but with some distinct differences in the skull structure and the brain size. They used stone axes and probably figured out how to make fire long before the others.

3. Homo rudolfensis In 2007 a 1.9 million-year-old skull washed ashore near Lake Rudolf in Kenya. Only a single remnant of this species has been found so far, and according to the scientists it was more of a smart ape than a human.

4. Homo antecessor One of our first European ancestors settled across the continent from Spain to Georgia 1.2 million to 700,000 years ago. Their large brains (over 1000 cc) helped them out tremendously during their reign in Europe.

5. Homo habilis (“handy man”) Many researchers believe that Homo habilis, who lived 2.5 to 1.8 million years ago, could have been the first species of the Homo genus to ever appear. Allegedly, they were the first species to use stone tools, but those were mostly used for cutting meat of a dead animal, rather than hunting or self-defense.

6. The Neanderthal (Homo neanderthalensis) The big boys are here! Their remains were found all over Europe and western Asia. Neanderthals were still roaming the land not so long ago, about 24,000 years, and first appeared 130,000 years ago. And since our direct ancestors were living their lives,

7. Homo sapiens idaltu (“elderly wise man”) Another more recently extinct subspecies of Homo sapiens – H. sapiens idaltu – settled in Africa 160,000 years ago. With brain capacity comparable to a modern human, these homies were most likely our direct ancestors. Following them were the first H. sapiens sapiens – Khoisan (today’s Bushmen), who appeared around 110,000 y.a. in Eastern Africa.