Human evolution did not occur directly from apes but rather from a common ancestor we shared approximately 6 million years ago. While we share over 90% of our DNA with chimpanzees and gorillas, they are actually distant cousins rather than direct ancestors. Additionally, less than half of the human body, about 43%, is made up of human cells - the rest consists of bacteria, viruses and fungi that make up the microbiome. Finally, while Darwin popularized the theory of evolution, some of his other ideas about differences between racial groups and intelligence have been disproven.

2. Human evolution- the facts
• Eight surprising facts about human evolution
• In the run up to the premiere of Tracks: Indigo on 28 October, you can now listen to all three previous series of Matthew
Brighton's conspiratorial thriller on BBC Sounds.
• In Tracks: Chimera, Helen Ash unravels a mystery with human evolution at its heart. But how much do we really know
about the history and future of our species? Here are eight sometimes surprising things about our journey towards
understanding the story of human evolution.

3. • We didn’t evolve from apes
• Contrary to the popularised image of mankind ‘arising’ from apes, modern humans – Homo sapiens – did not evolve directly from
the apes alive today, but rather we share a common ancestor. Our evolutionary paths diverged from those of chimpanzees and
gorillas about six million years ago. Though we do share over 90% of our DNA with them, apes are distant cousins, not great-
great-great (etc.) grandparents.
• You are actually less than half human
• About 43%, to be precise. This much of your body is made up of human cells, while the rest is a mix of bacteria, viruses and
fungi that combine to make your microbiome. This is thought to be as individual to each person as their fingerprint, and plays a
role in many vital body functions from digestion to the immune system.
• Darwin wasn’t right about everything
• He’s best known for popularising the theory of evolution in his book, On the Origin of Species, but Charles Darwin also had some
very unsubstantiated ideas about human beings... In a later book, he wrote that qualities like intellect and sense of smell were
greater or lesser in different racial groups. He also thought that “the average of mental power in man must be above that of
woman.” Needless to say, none of these claims have borne out.
• Human evolution is the evolutionary process within the history of primates that led to the emergence of Homo sapiens as a
distinct species of the hominid family, which includes all the great apes. This process involved the gradual development of traits
such as human bipedalism, dexterity and complex language,[1] as well as interbreeding with other hominins (a tribe of the African
hominid subfamily),[2] indicating that human evolution was not linear but weblike.[3][4][5][6] The study of human evolution
involves several scientific disciplines, including physical and evolutionary anthropology, paleontology, and genetics.[7][8]
• Primates diverged from other mammals about 85 million years ago (mya), in the Late Cretaceous period, with their
earliest fossils appearing over 55 mya, during the Paleocene.[9] Primates produced successive clades leading to
the ape superfamily, which gave rise to the hominid and the gibbon families; these diverged some 15–20 mya. African and Asian
hominids (including orangutans) diverged about 14 mya. Hominins (including the Australopithecine and Panina subtribes) parted
from the Gorillini tribe (gorillas) between 8–9 mya; Australopithecine (including the extinct biped ancestors of humans) separated
from the Pan genus (containing chimpanzees and bonobos) 4–7 mya.[10] The Homo genus is evidenced by the appearance
of H. habilis over 2 mya,[a] while anatomically modern humans emerged in Africa approximately 300,000 years ago.