Modern humans, Homo sapiens, are currently the only surviving member of the genus Homo. However, in the past, other human species coexisted alongside us. Over time, advances in archaeology have revealed that the genus Homo was once full of varied species, each playing a role in our evolution.
Since 1859, when Charles Darwin published his famous work The Origin of Species, interest in reconstructing the human family tree has grown significantly. Important discoveries, such as the skeletons of Australopithecus afarensis (known as Lucy) or Homo erectus (Java Man), provided the first clues to our ancestors. However, as more and more extinct human species are being discovered, it is becoming clear that our evolutionary history is much more complicated than originally thought.