Females are capable of pregnancy, usually between puberty, at around 12 years old, and menopause, around the age of 50. At puberty, humans develop secondary sex characteristics. Humans are sexually dimorphic: generally, males have greater body strength and females have a higher body fat percentage. Though humans vary in many traits (such as genetic predispositions and physical features), any two humans are at least 99% genetically similar. Genes and the environment influence human biological variation in visible characteristics, physiology, disease susceptibility, mental abilities, body size, and life span. Humans have continued to expand, with a global population of over 8 billion as of 2023. As populations became larger and denser, forms of governance developed within and between communities, and a large number of civilizations have risen and fallen. The Neolithic Revolution, which began in Southwest Asia around 13,000 years ago (and separately in a few other places), saw the emergence of agriculture and permanent human settlement. Humans began exhibiting behavioral modernity about 160,000–60,000 years ago. For most of their history, humans were nomadic hunter-gatherers.

Anatomically modern humans emerged around 300,000 years ago in Africa, evolving from Homo heidelbergensis or a similar species and migrating out of Africa, gradually replacing or interbreeding with local populations of archaic humans. Other members of the genus Homo are known as archaic humans. The desire to understand and influence phenomena has motivated humanity's development of science, technology, philosophy, mythology, religion, and other conceptual frameworks.Īlthough some scientists equate the term 'humans' with all members of the genus Homo, in common usage it generally refers to Homo sapiens, the only extant member. As such, social interactions between humans have established a wide variety of values, social norms, languages, and rituals, each of which bolsters human society. Humans are highly social and tend to live in complex social structures composed of many cooperating and competing groups, from families and kinship networks to political states. A great ape characterized by their hairlessness, bipedalism, and high intelligence, humans have a large brain and resulting cognitive skills that enable them to thrive in varied environments and develop complex societies and civilizations.

Humans, or modern humans ( Homo sapiens), are the most common and widespread species of primate.

Wildgame evolution 225