<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Range of H. s . sapiens (red and pink) </Td> </Tr> <P> In paleoanthropology, anatomically modern humans (AMH) is a term used to distinguish Homo sapiens as having an anatomy consistent with the range of phenotypes seen in contemporary humans from varieties of extinct archaic humans . </P> <P> Homo sapiens evolved from "archaic" or "robust" predecessors (Homo heidelbergensis, or a related offshoot from Homo erectus) around 315,000 years ago . The divergence of modern human populations dates to shortly after this time, the oldest division being that of the hunter - gatherer populations of Southern Africa, although there have been numerous events of admixture both among modern populations and between modern and archaic ones . </P> <P> Behavioral modernity, involving the development of language, figurative art and early forms of religion (etc .) is taken to have arisen before 40,000 years ago, marking the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic (in African contexts also known as the Later Stone Age). </P>

When did the first anatomically modern humans first appear