About four to five million years ago, our ancestors and chimpanzees diverged from a common ancestor. The Australopithecus genus was one of the earliest forms of hominids. The homo genus followed, with several species, such as Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Homo sapien neanderthalensis (neanderthals) preceding or even overlapping with modern humans. Modern humans (Homo sapien sapiens) evolved between 100,000 to 300,000 years ago.