Humans (Homo sapiens) are the most abundant and widespread species of primate. They are a type of great ape who are characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. Humans are highly social and tend to live in complex social structures composed of many cooperating and competing groups, from families and kinship networks to political states. As such, social interactions between humans have established a wide variety of values, social norms, language, and rituals, each of which bolster human society. The desire to understand and influence phenomena have motivated humanity's development of science, technology, philosophy, mythology, religion, and other fields of study. Although some scientists equate the term humans with all members of the genus Homo, in common usage, it generally refers to Homo sapiens, the only extant member. Anatomically modern humans emerged around 300,000 years ago in Africa, evolving from Homo heidelbergensis or a similar species and migrating out of Africa, gradually replacing or interbreeding with local populations of archaic...