How did life originate? How did life originate? Living things (even ancient organisms like bacteria) are enormously complex. However, all this complexity did not leap fully-formed from the primordial soup. Instead life almost certainly originated in a series of small steps, each building upon the complexity that evolved previously: Simple organic molecules were formed. Multicellularity evolved. Atlas of the Human Journey - The Genographic Project.
When humans first ventured out of Africa some 60,000 years ago, they left genetic footprints still visible today. By mapping the appearance and frequency of genetic markers in modern peoples, we create a picture of when and where ancient humans moved around the world. These great migrations eventually led the descendants of a small group of Africans to occupy even the farthest reaches of the Earth. Our species is an African one: Africa is where we first evolved, and where we have spent the majority of our time on Earth. The earliest fossils of recognizably modern Homo sapiens appear in the fossil record at Omo Kibish in Ethiopia, around 200,000 years ago. Although earlier fossils may be found over the coming years, this is our best understanding of when and approximately where we originated. According to the genetic and paleontological record, we only started to leave Africa between 60,000 and 70,000 years ago.
The story doesn’t end there, of course. Early Primate Evolution: Time Scale of the Earth. Evolution: Change: Life's Grand Design. Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. Becoming Human Paleoanthropology, Evolution and Human Origins. Evolution.