Upon completing this chapter, the student should be able to:

1. Explain what the hominins are and why we call them our ancestors.
2. Describe the hominin fossils we have for the late Miocene through the mid to late Pliocene (6–3 mya).
3. Discuss the evolutionary relationships between the early hominins.
4. Explain what these fossils tell us about the behavior and lifeways of these hominins.
5. Explain why the hominins become bipedal.