A mesmerizing look at how human faces have changed through time (vid)

Science, art and imagination

If you think your own face has changed through the years, look at this mind-numbing 90-second time lapse video that shows millions of years worth of evolution. Watch paleoartist John Gurche’s vision of his own direct ancestry in under 2 minutes. Learn how he draws on fossil discoveries and forensic techniques to create transfixing reconstructions of long-lost human ancestors.

The journey starts with Sahelanthropus tchadensis, a human ancestor that lived in West-Central Africa around 7 million years ago with a combination of ape-like and human-life features. Itmorphs to Australopithecus afarensis, Homo heidelbergensis, Homo neantherthalensis, before progressing over time.

The models were created in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History and combined art with science by using fossilized remains found from each species.

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