Sahelanthropus tchadensis: earliest known hominin candidate
c. 7 to 6 million years ago·Science, technology & invention·Africa (Chad)·
c. 7 to 6 million years agoDate
Science, technology & inventionCategory
0Empires active
- Date
- c. 7 to 6 million years ago
- Category
- Science, technology & invention
- Region
- Africa (Chad)
- Era
- Prehistory
- Significance
Fossils discovered in Chad represent one of the oldest known species on the human lineage after the split from chimpanzees. Features small brain but forward-positioned foramen magnum suggesting possible early bipedalism.
Play the daily history gameSee the world map in c. 7 to 6 million years ago →More science, technology & inventionThe Prehistory era
One piece of history in your inbox, weekly
New empires, events and features as they land. One good email a week. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Related science, technology & invention events
- Australopithecus afarensis ('Lucy' and relatives)c. 3.9 to 2.9 million years ago
- Discovery of the Denisovans and archaic-modern interbreedingc. 100,000 to 40,000 years ago (interbreeding); identified 2010
- Domestication of maize from teosinte in Mesoamericac. 7000 BCE (c. 9,000 years ago)
- Domestication of rice in the Yangtze River basinc. 8000 to 6000 BCE
- Domestication of the dog, humanity's first domesticated animalc. 16,000 to 14,000 years ago
- Earliest Controlled Use of Fire by Homo erectusc. 1,000,000 BCE
Essential reading
- Behavioural modernity and major Out-of-Africa dispersalc. 70,000 to 50,000 years ago
- The Pleistocene-Holocene boundary and the start of the Holocenec. 11,700 years ago (c. 9700 BCE)
- Monumental urbanism at Caral and the Norte Chico civilisationc. 2600 BCE
- Standardised Binary Weights System of the Indusc. 2600 BCE
Further reading
The wider story
A Little History of Science
Warm, jargon-free tour of discovery from Babylonian stargazers to the genome.
Get it on Amazon →As an Amazon Associate, Human Saga earns from qualifying purchases.