Human Origins

Skulls tell the story of our species, from our closest living relative, the chimpanzee, to our distant ancestor.

Skulls tell a tale of evolutionary change for all vertebrates, and humans are no exception. In the Skulls exhibit, three sets of skulls tell the story of our species, from our closest living relative, the chimpanzee, to Australopithecus afarensis—our distant, upright-walking ancestor. Compare those skulls to that of a modern Homo sapiens—to reveal differences and similarities in how each species walked, ate, and learned—and you may just find yourself pondering what our skulls might look like in another million years.