if only things we're that simple, I'd have an easy job! :)

Our story will keep getting messy, but it's worth noting that our diagrams and species lists dont' have to be. Paleoanthropology can divide into splitters & lumpers.

On one hand, splitters say that there are many distinct species in our lineage, that it looks more like a BUSH than a TREE. On the other, lumpers say that this means drawing arbitrary lines just to make more species. They'd rather group a bunch of these hominins together, like ergaster, erectus, heidelbergensis, and just call them all one thing.

The diagram I showed makes me look like a splitter, but you know, I think lumping some species together makes sense!

If folks are interested, maybe I'll do a post on this later: just how many species of humans have there been?