Human evolution diagram. Artwork showing the evolution of humans from earlier forms of life. At far left is lemurs, prises and pottos (55 million years ago, mya), that is thought to have evolved into tarsiers (second from left, 50 mya). Following this is a succession of pre-human primates: new world monkeys (45 mya), old world monkeys (25 mya), gibbons (15 mya), orangutans (9 mya), gorillas (5 mya), chimpanzees (3 mya), and finally modern humans, Homo sapiens (far right), appeared around 400 thousand years ago.