Origin and evolution of man

Around 15 mya lived two primates, Dryopithecus and Ramapithecus: hairy, and walking the way gorillas and chimpanzees do. Ramapithecus was closer to man, Dryopithecus closer to apes.

A few fossils of man-like bones from Ethiopia and Tanzania show hominid features, suggesting that about 3-4 mya man-like primates walked upright in eastern Africa. They were probably no taller than 4 feet.

About 2 mya Australopithecines probably lived in the grasslands of East Africa. They hunted with stone weapons but mainly ate fruit.

Homo habilis, the first human-like being (hominid), had a brain capacity of 650-800 cc and probably did not eat meat.

Homo erectus, known from fossils found in Java in 1891, lived about 1.5 mya, had a large brain of about 900 cc, and probably ate meat.

Neanderthal man, brain about 1400 cc, lived in the near east and central Asia between 1,00,000 and 40,000 years ago. They protected their bodies with hides and buried their dead.

Homo sapiens arose in Africa and spread across continents, developing into distinct races. Modern Homo sapiens arose during the ice age, between 75,000 and 10,000 years ago.

Prehistoric cave art developed about 18,000 years ago; such paintings can be seen at the Bhimbetka rock shelter in Raisen district, Madhya Pradesh.

Agriculture began about 10,000 years ago, and human settlements started. A skull comparison shows the baby chimpanzee's skull is more like an adult human's than an adult chimpanzee's.