How We Became Human (That We Know Of) | Lindsay Nikole
Thank you to Bombas for sponsoring this video! Head to https://bombas.yt.link/0iw3xNC and use code LINDSAY20 at checkout for 20% off your first purchase.
Uncover the shocking truth about human evolution that rewrites everything you learned in school! From Moroccan caves hiding 300,000-year-old skulls to Indonesian paintings of supernatural beings from 51,200 years ago, this video explores how Homo sapiens became culturally modern. Discover why early humans were obsessed with red ochre, how they survived crossing deadly oceans on primitive rafts, what therianthropes reveal about ancient religion, and the stoned ape theory that claims mushrooms made us creative. Featuring the oldest drawings ever made, shamanic trance rituals, prehistoric music, and why gossip might be the key to language evolution. This is the messy, chaotic, brilliant story of how we became us!
A huge thanks to the team for helping bring this video to life!
Research: Carys Phillips, Ainsley Belisle
Scripting: Carys Phillips
Editing: Joshua Stroud, Gianfranco Botto
Oh! And I wrote a book, so definitely make sure to grab it—Epic Earth out now!
Order Here: https://a.co/d/54fdZqI
NEW MERCH- https://lindsaynikole.com/
#LindsayNikole #humanevolution #wildlifefacts
Don’t miss a video! Subscribe NOW: https://www.youtube.com/@LindsayNikole?sub_confirmation=1
ABOUT LINDSAY NIKOLE
Join zoologist Lindsay Nikole for vivid stories about evolution, animal behavior, and the wonderfully weird life around (and before) us. Each video dives into creatures you’ve never met and facts you’ll never forget, blending science with humor, visuals, and memorable explanations. From viral mystery IDs and prehistoric deep dives to myth-busting and conservation context, this channel makes complex biology easy and exciting to understand.
Follow Lindsay Nikole here:
Order Lindsay’s new book: https://geni.us/EpicEarth?brid=yl-xFobehfULq0HItSrw1g
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindsay_nikole
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindsayNikoleTheZoologist
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lindsaynikole
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2IDSBorwoeXSD3r67kFTQH?si=Mb2Dg1fgRXWZQzfIzSqgmg&nd=1
Merch: https://www.lindsaynikole.com
Chapters:
00:00 Oldest Cave Painting Discovery
01:17 Extinction Of Other Hominin Species
02:52 The Moroccan Cave Discovery
06:47 Thermoluminescence Dating Technique
08:05 “Jebel Irhoud” 300,000 Year Old Fossils
09:02 The Ethiopian OMO Fossils
10:05 Pan-African Model Of Evolution
11:18 Modern Human Anatomy Features
15:02 Human Migration Out Of Africa
17:29 Australian Settlement Via Rafts
20:19 Behavioral Modernity Concept
21:05 The Human Revolution Theory
23:46 Stoned Ape Hypothesis & Early African Art
27:16 The Indonesian Cave & European Cave Art
34:24 Therianthropes In Ancient Art & Sorcerer Painting
36:58 Red Ochre Significance & Evolution Of Religion
39:14 The Ancient Musical Instruments
40:31 Language Evolution And Gossip Theory
How We Became Human (That We Know Of) | Lindsay Nikole
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrc2iv2-G1FZ3VscM3zu2jg
@LindsayNikole
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
i appreciate all of the feedback from the living room bit!!! happy to hear it felt cozy 🙂 i’m wondering if it’s the wall color. i’ve always stuck to a white backdrop but i’ve been messing with the idea of some sort of tan concrete wallpaper look for the next space, or just a warmer color. what are your thoughts?
@YTRulesFromNM
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
You have a beautiful chin.
@SmollyFace-pe6ye
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
Have read food of the gods
@HazyDayzPlayz
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
I liked the little excursions to your living room 😊 Definitely helps my novelty-seeking adhd brain 😅
@Jduhitis
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
Just keep doing what you do, the living room thing is nice for the getting down to the details vibe. Just sit down when you feel like you need to
@irishbull25
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
Okay the hottest short queen that knows her shit like wtf. They actually are real? Probably likes girls but Dam she’s smart. Props
@gordonwallin2368
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
There's no one else who dose this stuff the way you do it. That we know.😄
Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada
@ResortDog
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
The symbiosis with dogs allowed each of us to lose intelligence.The wolves lost more brain space so they won, what?
@Rollemupjohnny
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
14:29 or reddit mods
@kuhttifrutti2826
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
Your videos are always interesting, the background doesn't make a difference to me. I think the way you express yourself through your movements is captivating. I can understand wanting to sit down though… 🙂
@lilyhemingway2580
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
I like the living room segment, it feels more like hanging out than usual, but I miss the white board 🙁 maybe it would be helped if the pictures were isolated from the background with a border?
@vattmann1387
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
"Or are we dancers"
Sorry, had to be done.
Love the vids and stuff 🙂
@DudeNamedDude1776
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
You should rip off Stefan Milo's bit and just go walking around in a forest rambling about ancient hominids like a mad man.
@yourpreston1
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
RE the sudden modern behavior… There's never been a successful theory about history or evolution that suggests sudden change. It's ALWAYS proven wrong eventually and it kind of flys in the face of simple logic. I hate with archeologists try to do this and get fixated on a culture and manipulate every fragment of evidence they can to show it was THE culure/religion/society that popped up from nowhere and shaped everything after it. It's always nonsense, our world isn't that simple.
@brandongoodwill9054
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
I feel very bamboozled but I am enjoying it😅
@Idktesthandle1234
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
<3 Terence Mckenna! 🍄
@katieedwards5926
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
I don’t now how I’m JUST NOW coming across your videos! Your content is right up my alley and your delivery is perfection. Glad to subscribe!
@igitaq
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
I am working on a fantasy horror novel that is based on an alternate earth. The main character is a precursor to humans but was basically quantumly entangled with the universe and is functionally immortal. In your opinion who would be a good hominid to have this character be before being forcibly evolved? I am looking for a tool user that is prespeech as far as we know.
@madtitan9639
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
Stand or sit where you want, Lindsay. Do animal flow at the zoo and eat a bowl of cereal. Idgaf. That we know of.
@Skullofdarkness1
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
With regards to the break to the living room, you looked like you didn't know what to do with yourself, but as long as you're comfortable, it doesn't matter to me where you're talking. Hell, you could do what Dr. Jackson Crawford does and record outside in random places you find pretty, sound quality be damned.
@dennismason3740
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
500, 000 years ago the Anunaki arrived, needed labor to accomplish their mission and looked around and saw homo erectus and said "perfect!" and proceeded to add Anunaki DNA to the Earth primate DNA and for 300,000 years did their thing and carrying their booty went back home. I'm not going to type what their mission was because you aren't interested nor flexible enough to believe real history. Thus they co-created homo sapiens sapiens, the species so nice they named it twice. Kidding. They aren't that nice though they sometimes pretend to be. The Anunaki have since evolved into non-physical beings and they are no longer interested in humans like the other 3 dozen other stellar civilizations that think we're hilarious. Yes, they all practice the Primary Directive and will not get directly involved with human behavior HOWEVER when you need help that is beyond the capacity of 99.99999999999% of humans you'll be glad that they bother with us at all. By the way the ones I know are incomprehensibly smarter and funnier than you can imagine. As they say it takes a smarty to write a smarty. Comedians as well. I like to play around but the above history is spot on. Open contact in probably 2027. Those folk with rigid minds and hearts won't believe the media coverage anyway.
@nicklafleur7620
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
One of my most terrifying thoughts is that homo sapiens succeeded because we were more aggressive and more violent than the other species. Hoping to have that thought quelled with this video!
@SPINOBOI-13
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
19:14 auzzie here what’s a mayflower? I mean your right we do not learn about that
Edit ok I looked it up we research the first fleet a lot instead of
@youtube2snoopy820
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
That spear-thrower looks like a hippopotamus, not a mammoth.
@ariels6391
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
Sit, have a drink, relax, maybe even grab a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch
@jof.7577
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
I like the cozy living room vibes…perfect for the fun little story I have about what they teach in Australia. I moved to the States in 1985 because of Dad's job and on my first day of class in the US, the teacher gave a history pop quiz to the class. It was about early US settlement. I was the only one who got everything right…the new kid from another country. Why? Because I had just finished this very subject in Aussie before moving to the States. So yes, I knew about the Mayflower before ever coming here.
@jesssssss
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
one thing i’ve heard brought up before that might be relevant here re: brain size shrinking is that part of the reasons childbirth is such an ordeal for humans is specifically due to our big heads lol. brain size shrinking could be in response to evolutionary pressure, and hominids with smaller brains having an easier time making it through childbirth
@wjpperry1
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
I stuck my finger into my bellybutton for what I realized was the first time this decade. There was nothing in there and I felt disappointed. When did man first probe his ambilical hole?Is there archeological evidence for bellybutton lint? Did Otzi have shmultz in his button?
@strawberryrats
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
i think it's good to change ur location in videos. having the option to sit when ur doin longer videos is especially good
@nickwilmoth9019
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
Damn what is this ending beat
@WhiteNucklin
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
I’ve learned way more from you than I ever did in school but that’s because I was busy being a stoned ape
@WhiteNucklin
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
Now do a segment on the roof or in the hallway
@CuriousQuill83
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
I've never commented on one of your videos until now,just felt like I should let you know you're one of,if not the best science/anthropology/biology communicators on YouTube and in general. You're so genuine, hilarious,and clear and concise in what you have to say while thoroughly explaining the facts. And most importantly,you remain open to new evidence and facts. Thank you for everything you do to enlighten the world
@KCUFyoufordoxingme
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
The reaction time increase and less magnificent sinus probably let us beat neanderthal in combat. The smells of and breathing in smoke had to have been hell to neanderthal sinus. Add in weapons, reaction time beats out strong and smart.
@lezbehonest25
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
Location changes are interesting and fun. I struggle with concentration. It helped me pay more attention. I'd do it if it's easy or comfortable for you! Thank you for making these. I love the delivery and information. I also love how you say things like "that we know of..". People tend to be very stubborn in thier belief of things with research. However we are ALWAYS finding new things and changing the history and facts.
@daisyfornost
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
Hi Lindsay! You might enjoy Julian Jaynes' "The evolution if consciousness in the breakdown of the bicameral mind". He has some interesting ideas about the evolution of religion.
And I loved the bit in your living room. 😀
@GetOfflineGetGood
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
I feel like humans probably had material culture before the objects we have found, but they weren't using durable materials like stone. There's no way we could find 100k year old objects made of like leaves or something
@Vthrax
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
Awesome Thank You
@chofaimporovitch1543
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
❤
@khall3353
February 9, 2026 at 6:20 am
19:58 WOO!! FIELD TRIP!!
Comments are closed.