Primates, like humans, are mammals. Around ten to twelve million years ago, the ancestral primate lineage split through speciation from one common ancestor into two major groups. These two lineages evolved separately to become the variety of species we see today., The first evolutionary shake-up happened between 2.9 million and 2.4 million years ago. The famous ancestral lineage of “Lucy” and her ilk ( Australopithecus afarensis ) became extinct, and , We see a steep decline in the average mass of hunted mammals over time. Over the last 1.5 million years, the mean mass of hunted mammals decreased by more than 98%. 2. 1.5 million years ago, our Homo erectus ancestors roamed the earth with mammals weighing several tonnes., Previously discovered fossils in North America have prompted speculation that dinosaurs didn’t appear there until about 212 million years ago — significantly later than in South America. Scientists have devised multiple theories to explain dinosaurs’ delayed appearance in North America, citing environmental factors or a vast desert barrier., The rise and fall of Earth's land surface over the last three million years shaped the evolution of birds and mammals, a new study has found, with new species evolving at higher rates where the , .