Meet Our Ancestors: Researchers use forensics to rebuild 27 faces of man's ancestors, stretching back 7 million years
- Models built from forensic reconstruction of fossil skulls
- Reconstructs face age when humans and chimps shared common ancestry
- Ancestors from when 'hominids' first emerged in Africa
By Rob Waugh
Last updated at 9:58 PM on 6th January 2012 An exhibition in Dresden, Germany has used forensic technology to recreate some of the most distant members of the human evolutionary 'family' - ancestors stretching back seven million years. The 27 model heads were created using fossil remains, and includes a glimpse of sahelanthropus tchadensis, an ancestor dated to about seven million years ago, when our 'hominid 'ancestors' first originated in Africa.
 Sahelanthropus tchadensis lived seven million years ago - before the divergence of man and our closest evolutionary cousins, chimpanzees  Homo rudolfensis lived around two million years ago. The remains were found in Kenya - it's still not entirely clear where this ancestor fits into human evolution  Paranthropus boisei lived 2million years ago and had a skull highly specialised for heavy chewing. The species is known as 'Nutcracker man' as it had the biggest cheek teeth and thickest enamel of any known hominin Forensic anthropologists use similar computer-assisted techniques to police teams attempting to reconstruct human remains - and the near-complete skulls of ancestors such as sahelanthropus tchadensis have allowed researchers to reconstruct lifelike faces of what out ancestors might have looked like. Salhelanthropus tchadensis dates to a time before humans and chimpanzees, our closest evolutionary cousins, became genetically separate. 'Using forensic anthropological methods, the various hominids were recreated not as characteristic ideals, but as individuals,' says the museum. 'Each one tells its own story: where they lived, what they ate, their likely cause of death and much more.' Some of the oldest spears ever found are also on display - dating back 400,000 years.
 Australopithecus Africanus lived around two milion years ago. The hominid is thought to be one of our direct ancestors - already showing a larger brain  A skull of Australopithecus africanus found in South Africa was used to rebuild this face of an ancestor who lived around two million years ago, known as Plesianthropus transvaalensis ('near man from the Transvaal')  Homo erectus lived one million years ago. One theory is that the species originated in Africa and migrated to India, China and Java. Another holds that they evolved in Asia and migrated to Africa 'There is little doubt that Africa is the cradle of humanity: this is where the most ancient remains of our ancestors were unearthed,' says the museum.
'The exhibition introduces you to the excavation sites in Africa where scientists are conducting research into the origins of mankind.
'Every step in the scientific process is clearly explained, showing exactly how conclusions are reached.'  Homo ergaster lived 1.5million years ago. Very similar to Home erectus, it originated in Africa. Ergaster is from the Greek word 'workman'  Homo neanderthalensis lived 60,000 years ago. Probably our closest relatives, neanderthals were humans but were a different species to us, Homo sapiens. They evolved in Europe and Asia while we did in Africa  Three neanderthal reconstructions at the exhibition in Dresden, which opened in November
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