(Latin; " man the wise ")
Genus and species to which all modern human beings ( Homo sapiens sapiens ) belong.
The oldest known fossil remains date to 0441; 120,000 years ago, or much earlier ( 0441; 400,000 years ago) if evidence of certain "archaic" varieties is included. H. sapiens is distinguished from earlier hominid species by characteristics and habits such as bipedal stance and gait, brain capacity averaging about 1,350 cc, high forehead, small teeth and jaw, defined chin, construction and use of tools, and ability to use symbol s. Most scholars believe that modern humans developed in Africa 0441; 150,000 years ago and spread to the Middle East 0441; 100,000 years ago and to other parts of Eurasia 0441; 40,00050,000 years ago (this is known as the "single-origin" model). Some consider this dispersion to have occurred even more recently (50,00065,000 years ago). Others contend that modern humans developed from various regional populations of archaic H. sapiens in Eurasia beginning 0441; 250,000 years ago (the "regional-continuity" model). In the first model the genetic differences that exist between the peoples of the world would not be very old; in the second model they would be significantly older. In any case, by 0441; 11,000 BC H. sapiens sapiens had peopled virtually the entire globe. See also Cro-Magnon ; culture ; human evolution ; Neanderthal .