# The Genus Homo and the Emergence of Us

## Introduction

Our human story continues with the rise of the genus Homo which at one time represented at least 8 different species in our human lineage – with only H. sapiens surviving. The genus Homo displays some of the most diverse and complex examples of both australopithecine and Homo characteristics, which has made the classification of species in this genus challenging. In this chapter we take a look at how paleoanthropologists have defined Homo and at attempts to answer the question, “What does a species of the genus Homo look like?”