How to ID a modern human

From a mysterious 13,000-year-old human from West Africa, to ancient genes in modern human DNA, fossil discoveries and new research techniques are making the study of human evolution more exciting than ever.

But to the untrained eye, one human skull looks a lot like any other. So, how does a scientist distinguish the skeleton of a modern human, Homo sapiens, from other extinct human species such as Homo neanderthalensis, H. erectus and H. heidelbergensis?

There are physical features that, taken together, identify Homo sapiens, says Prof Chris Stringer, human origins expert at the Natural History Museum, who writes on this topic in the journal Nature this week.

'These physical features are found in all humans living today and they had evolved in our African homeland by 100,000 years ago.'
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The Natural History Museum