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Humans and other Great Apes
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/humans-are-apes-great-apes/

Humans are classified in the sub-group of primates known as the Great Apes.

Sahelanthropus tchadensis
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/sahelanthropus-tchadensis/

Claimed as one of the most significant discoveries in the field of human evolution, the fossils possibly represent the oldest known human ancestor after the split of the human line from that of the chimpanzees. However, this is hotly debated.

Homo neanderthalensis – The Neanderthals
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/homo-neanderthalensis/

Neanderthals co-existed with modern humans for long periods of time before eventually becoming extinct about 28,000 years ago. The unfortunate stereotype of these people as dim-witted and brutish cavemen still lingers in popular ideology but research has revealed a more nuanced picture.

Ardipithecus ramidus
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/ardipithecus-ramidus/

Discovered in the 1990s, this is one of the earliest of our hominin ancestors yet discovered.

How do we affect our evolution?
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/how-do-we-affect-our-evolution/

We are the only living things that have the ability to counter the forces of evolution. In the past, our ancestors relied on genetic adaptations for survival. Today, technology, rather than biology, has become the key to our survival as a species.

Larger brains
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/larger-brains/

Important changes to the brain have been occurring for more than two million years. These changes have resulted in dramatic increase in brain size and the reorganisation of the brain in which some parts, such as those involved in learning, have developed more than others, such as smell and vision

Australopithecus anamensis
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/australopithecus-anamensis/

A. anamensis is the earliest known australopithecine and lived over 4 million years ago.

Australopithecus africanus
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/australopithecus-africanus/

This species was the first of our pre-human ancestors to be discovered, but was initially rejected from our family tree because of its small brain. This opinion changed when new evidence showed this species had many features intermediate between apes and humans.

Complex technology
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/complex-technology/

Our ancestors have been using tools for many millions of years. As our ancestors’ intelligence increased, they developed the ability to make increasingly more complex stone, metal and other tools, create art and deliberately produce and sustain fire.  

How do we know an individual’s age at death?
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/how-do-we-know-an-individuals-age-at-death/

Scientists can sometimes work out how old an individual was at the time of their death. Their age at death is determined by examining their teeth and bones, and by understanding how quickly these structures develop within the bodies of our ancestors.