And now scientists have created an identikit image of the shrew-like mammal from which most of the world's warm-blooded creatures – including humans – are descended. It evolved around 200,000 years after the extinction of the dinosaurs, linked to an asteroid hitting Earth 65 million years ago.

What species did humans evolve from?

KEY FACTModern humans originated in Africa within the past 200,000 years and evolved from their most likely recent common ancestor, Homo erectus. Modern humans (Homo sapiens), the species^? that we are, means 'wise man' in Latin.

Did primates evolve from shrews?

Primates have their earliest evolutionary ancestry in tree-shrew-sized proto-mammals that evolved in the shadow of dinosaurs about 200 million years ago.