Walking with Cavemen

3.2 MYA-today

Austrolopithecus afarensis – not a particularly special ape. Somewhat more intelligent than most, certainly weaker than most predators of the African plains, no match for lions or crocodiles… and yet…your descendants will endure for millions of years to come.

Panthropus boisei. Homo rudolfensis. Homo habilis. Only habilis will survive…

Their descendants will spread throughout the world, out of Africa, through Europe and Asia, and beyond, dealing with the native flora and fauna wherever they go – lions, zebras, and the massive Gigantopithecus are just the tip of the iceberg. Homo Ergaster to Homo Erectus, to Homo Heidelbergensis, to Homo neanderthalensis… and the European Neanderthal Man will fall to (or interbreed with) his African cousin Cro-Magnon Man. And thus…

Homo Sapiens Sapiens.

The end product of three billion years of evolution.

Such a strange species – a mostly-hairless ape that walks upright. They aren’t very swift or powerful, they’re built like something made out of toothpicks compared to most animals – but they’re smarter than they look, smart enough to manipulate their environment to their liking, to create machines that fight for them…

In less than ten thousand years, they will completely overrun the planet, destroying the old orders of the world, creating new structures to replace them. They will single-handedly cause one of the most devastating mass extinctions the world has ever known.

And now, this strange species – humans – has but one obstacle before it.

Itself.

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(Credit for Walking with Cavemen goes to the BBC, not me.)