ABSTRACT
We are the last surviving species of bipedal hominins after a string of numerous species that lived before us. There have been two or more species or sub-species of hominins living concurrently throughout that 5 to 7 million-years period. In fact, we were not alone as little as 30,000-40,000 years ago when Neanderthals shared Eurasia with our ancestors. Now, we are the last man standing, and we are Homo sapiens. Is there any way we can determine how long our species has existed? That is the question addressed in this chapter. We shall see how DNA science attempts to answer the question and how reasonable its answer appears to be.
