What If You Had to Live With Every Other Human Species?

What if you were dropped in with every human species that ever lived, in their own time and place, with nothing but the clothes you're wearing? Lucy's family. Homo erectus. The cannibals of Gran Dolina. The Denisovans on the roof of the world. The "Hobbits" of Flores, living off dragon leftovers. The Neanderthals. We take a 3-million-year road trip through human evolution and time how long you'd last at every stop. Some stops last a few hours. One could last the rest of your life. And one of these species is still with you right now. Which human species would you move in with, and how long do you honestly think you'd last? Tell me in the comments! ▶️ Missed our first road trip? How Long Would You Survive in Every Prehistoric Era? Could You Survive Prehistoric Earth? (4 Bi... ⏱️ Chapters 0:00 Intro: the face across the campfire 2:00 Stop 1 · Lucy's family (Australopithecus afarensis) 6:47 Stop 2 · Homo habilis 11:02 Stop 3 · The explorers of Georgia (Dmanisi) 14:55 Stop 4 · Homo erectus 19:28 Stop 5 · Homo antecessor 22:57 Stop 6 · Homo heidelbergensis 27:01 Halftime: the score so far 27:56 Stop 7 · Homo naledi 32:13 Stop 8 · The Denisovans 36:18 Stop 9 · Homo luzonensis 39:50 Stop 10 · The Neanderthals 44:39 Stop 11 · Homo floresiensis (the Hobbits) 48:20 Stop 12 · Homo sapiens 52:45 The final scoreboard 🔬 Selected sources • Lucy and Australopithecus afarensis (Smithsonian Human Origins); Kappelman et al. 2016, Nature • OH 8 and Crocodylus anthropophagus: Brochu et al. 2010; habilis and erectus side by side: Spoor et al. 2007, Nature • Dmanisi hominins: Lordkipanidze et al. 2005 (Nature) and 2013 (Science) • Homo erectus: Turkana Boy; persistence hunting (Nature Human Behaviour 2024); last erectus at Ngandong: Rizal et al. 2020, Nature • Homo antecessor and cannibalism at Gran Dolina (IPHES); proteins from antecessor teeth: Welker et al. 2020, Nature • Boxgrove (Natural History Museum); Kabwe 1 (Smithsonian); Sima de los Huesos • Homo naledi and Rising Star: Berger et al. 2015, eLife; Dinaledi and Lesedi chambers; Florisbad skull • Denisovans: Baishiya Karst Cave fauna, Nature 2024; Harbin "Dragon Man" = Denisovan, Cell 2025; EPAS1: Huerta-Sánchez et al. 2014, Nature; Laos tooth (2022); Penghu jaw (2025) • Homo luzonensis: Détroit et al. 2019, Nature; Callao Cave redating (2023); Kalinga rhino, Ingicco et al. 2018, Nature • Neanderthals at Neumark-Nord: elephant hunting (Science Advances 2023) and the "fat factory" (Science Advances 2025); Schöningen spears (Science Advances 2025); Krapina eagle talons (PLOS ONE 2015); Shanidar 1 (Smithsonian); "Tina" (Science Advances 2024); Bruniquel Cave: Jaubert et al. 2016, Nature • Homo floresiensis: Brown et al. 2004, Nature; giant stork (Natural History Museum); Komodo tooth marks and Zoo Atlanta study (2026); Flores megadrought (2025) • Homo sapiens: Jebel Irhoud, Hublin et al. 2017, Nature; Ranis and Zlatý kůň genomes, Nature 2024; Oase 1, Fu et al. 2015, Nature; Lion Man (Ulm Museum) • Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA in people today (Cell 2020 and others) Survival times are educated estimates for entertainment, based on the science above. 🦴 Subscribe to Prehistory Retold for more prehistory, retold: @prehistoryretold #humanevolution #neanderthals #prehistory