We begin this discussion of our species' evolution in Africa, near the end of the geological time period known as the Miocene, just before our lineage diverged from that of chimpanzees and bonobos.

His excited shout brought the team together, marking the beginning of an extraordinary ... Hyaenodonts eventually faced extinction in the late Miocene, roughly 5 to 7 million years ago.

The mountains were just beginning to form at the time ... waters of the Pacific region and around South America during the Miocene, which was a geologic period that lasted from roughly 23 million ...