Somewhere between about 20 and 30 hominin species have been named, depending on whether you side with lumpers or splitters. At least four coexisted around 1.9 million years ago, and at least five were alive as recently as 60,000 years ago. Today there is one.
Ask how many human species there have been and you will get a different number from every palaeoanthropologist you ask. Not because the fossils are in dispute — but because “species” is a judgement call when your only evidence is bone.
“Splitters” name a new species when a fossil differs meaningfully from known ones; “lumpers” fold variation into existing species and point out that living humans, gorillas and chimps all vary enormously within a single species. Reasonable counts run from about 20 to 30. Below is the mainstream list.
The full list of named hominin species
These are the species most commonly recognised, oldest first. Dates are approximate and get revised regularly — that is normal, not a weakness.
| Species | When | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Sahelanthropus tchadensis | ~7 Ma | Chad |
| Orrorin tugenensis | ~6 Ma | Kenya |
| Ardipithecus kadabba | 5.8–5.2 Ma | Ethiopia |
| Ardipithecus ramidus | ~4.4 Ma | Ethiopia |
| Australopithecus anamensis | 4.2–3.8 Ma | Kenya, Ethiopia |
| Australopithecus afarensis | 3.9–2.9 Ma | East Africa |
| Kenyanthropus platyops | ~3.5 Ma | Kenya |
| Australopithecus deyiremeda | ~3.4 Ma | Ethiopia |
| Australopithecus africanus | 3.3–2.1 Ma | South Africa |
| Paranthropus aethiopicus | 2.7–2.3 Ma | East Africa |
| Australopithecus garhi | ~2.5 Ma | Ethiopia |
| Homo habilis | 2.4–1.5 Ma | East Africa |
| Homo rudolfensis | 2.4–1.8 Ma | Kenya, Malawi |
| Paranthropus boisei | 2.3–1.2 Ma | East Africa |
| Australopithecus sediba | ~2.0 Ma | South Africa |
| Paranthropus robustus | 2.0–1.2 Ma | South Africa |
| Homo erectus | 2.0 Ma–110 ka | Africa, Asia |
| Homo antecessor | 1.2–0.8 Ma | Spain |
| Homo heidelbergensis | ~700–200 ka | Africa, Europe |
| Homo naledi | 335–236 ka | South Africa |
| Homo sapiens | ~300 ka–present | Africa, then everywhere |
| Homo neanderthalensis | ~430–40 ka | Europe, western Asia |
| Denisovans (Homo longi?) | ~200–30 ka | Siberia, Tibet, East Asia |
| Homo floresiensis | ~100–50 ka | Flores, Indonesia |
| Homo luzonensis | ~67–50 ka | Luzon, Philippines |
Add the contested or regional names — Homo ergaster, Homo rhodesiensis, Homo bodoensis (proposed in 2021), Australopithecus bahrelghazali, Paranthropus capensis — and the count climbs past 30. Strip out every disputed name and you can get it down to about 15. Roughly 21 to 25 is a defensible middle.
How many lived at the same time?
This is the more interesting question, and the answer is: usually several.
Around 1.9 million years ago
East Africa alone held Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, Homo erectus and Paranthropus boisei — four hominins occupying different ecological niches. Southern Africa added Paranthropus robustus and possibly Australopithecus sediba. Six species of upright ape, on one continent, at one time.
Around 300,000 years ago
Early Homo sapiens at Jebel Irhoud in Morocco. Neanderthals taking shape in Europe. Denisovans in Asia. Homo naledi, with a brain a third the size of ours, still alive in South Africa. Homo erectus hanging on in Java. At least five.
Around 60,000 years ago
Modern humans spreading out of Africa. Neanderthals across Europe and the Near East. Denisovans across Asia. Homo floresiensis on Flores. Homo luzonensis on Luzon. Possibly late Homo erectus in Java. Five or six kinds of human, simultaneously. On the geological clock, that is yesterday.
Why are we the only ones left?
There is no single answer, and the honest position is that we do not fully know. The main contributing factors:
- Absorption, not just extinction. Neanderthals and Denisovans did not vanish cleanly — they interbred with us. Most people outside sub-Saharan Africa carry about 1–2% Neanderthal DNA, and Melanesians carry 4–6% Denisovan. Some of those lineages ended by being folded into ours.
- Small, fragmented populations. Neanderthal genomes show low diversity and high inbreeding — the signature of populations chronically close to the edge.
- Climate volatility. The last glacial period swung violently. Specialised, regionally adapted populations fare badly in unstable conditions.
- Competition. Modern humans arriving in already-occupied territory raised the pressure on resources, whether or not there was outright conflict.
- Networks. Modern human sites show long-distance exchange of raw materials and ornaments on a scale rarely seen at Neanderthal sites — a buffer against local failure.
The likeliest picture is not a war but a squeeze: many small populations, each pushed to the wall by a slightly different combination of these pressures, over tens of thousands of years. Our article on Neanderthal extinction works through that case in detail.
The uncomfortable part
We treat “human” and “Homo sapiens” as synonyms because we have no living counterexample. That is a historical accident, and a recent one. For the overwhelming majority of the last seven million years, being human meant looking across a valley at people who were not quite like you.
Every species in this list is plotted on the interactive timeline — including the overlaps.
Explore the interactive family tree →Frequently asked questions
How many human species have there been?
Between about 20 and 30, depending on which contested names you accept. Around 21 to 25 is a widely defensible count, from Sahelanthropus seven million years ago to Homo sapiens today.
How many human species lived at the same time?
Several, for most of the record. Around 1.9 million years ago at least four coexisted in East Africa. As recently as 60,000 years ago there were at least five: Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, Denisovans, Homo floresiensis and Homo luzonensis.
When did we become the only human species?
Roughly 40,000 to 30,000 years ago, once Neanderthals, Denisovans and the island hominins of Southeast Asia had disappeared. Homo floresiensis and Homo luzonensis survived to about 50,000 years ago.
Why do scientists disagree on the number?
Because species boundaries in fossils are judgement calls. 'Splitters' name new species for meaningful anatomical differences; 'lumpers' treat the same fossils as variation within existing species. Interbreeding between Neanderthals, Denisovans and modern humans complicates it further.
Which human species lasted the longest?
Homo erectus, at roughly 1.9 million years. Homo sapiens has existed for about 300,000 years so far.
- Wood, B. & Boyle, E. K. (2016). 'Hominin taxic diversity: fact or fantasy?' American Journal of Physical Anthropology 159.
- Berger, L. R. et al. (2015). 'Homo naledi, a new species of the genus Homo from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa.' eLife 4. elifesciences.org
- Hublin, J.-J. et al. (2017). 'New fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco and the pan-African origin of Homo sapiens.' Nature 546. nature.com
- Smithsonian Human Origins — Human family tree. humanorigins.si.edu