The timeline of human evolution outlines the major events in the evolutionary lineage of the modern human species, Homo sapiens, throughout the history of life, beginning some 4 billion years ago down to recent evolution within H. sapiens during and since the Last Glacial Period. It includes brief explanations of the various taxonomic ranks in the human lineage. The timeline reflects the mainstream views in modern taxonomy, based on the principle of phylogenetic nomenclature; in cases of open questions with no clear consensus, the main competing possibilities are briefly outlined. Overview of taxonomic ranks A tabular overview of the taxonomic ranking of Homo sapiens (with age estimates for each rank) is shown below. Timeline Unicellular life Animalia Chordata Tetrapoda Mammals Primates Hominidae Homo Homo sapiens See also Evolution of human intelligence Graphical timeline of the universe Human evolution Recent human evolution List of human evolution fossils Natural history Human history History of Earth Timeline of prehistory Timeline of the evolutionary history of life List of timelines References External links Palaeos Hominid Timeline Berkeley Evolution History of Animal Evolution Tree of Life Web Project – explore complete phylogenetic tree interactively Human Timeline (Interactive) – Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History (August 2016). Human evolution Evolution-related timelines