The Long Road That Made Mankind

Fantastic? No, it really happened. Between 20 and 7 million years ago, the Earth was actually the planet of monkeys. At least 100 species inhabited the world before the first humans appeared. They were prominent in numbers and diversity, but they are even more interesting what we can be told about our own origin. A person's main features, including the large brain, dexterious hands, proper body attitudes, and long childhood, can be traced back to that time. And the really amazing thing is that all these traits evolved in European monkeys.

The news is full of discoveries that change our ideas about human evolution. But when we think about our ancestors, we tend to focus on the last eight million years, where our background is separated from that of chimpanzees. What happened earlier? Three decades of study convinced me that this early period was absolutely crucial.

There is no doubt that monkeys originated in Africa or that our latest evolution took place there. But for a period between these two developments, monkeys were on the verge of extinction on their continent as they flourished in Europe. Furthermore, transforming European species during this time has made us humans...