Evolution (2002)

Evolution is a collection of short stories that work together to form an episodic science fiction novel by author Stephen Baxter. It follows 565 million years of human evolution, from shrewlike mammals 65 million years in the past to the ultimate fate of humanity and its descendants, both biological and non-biological, 500 million years in the future.

Plot

Protagonists in the Purga–human line

Characters listed below descend from Purga and are either ancestral to or descended from humans.

Purga (65 Mya, Montana). A female Purgatorius. Despite being a shrew-like insectivore and barely self-aware, she is ancestral to all primates. After losing two mates and their litters to a Troodon attack and cannibalism, she manages to bear two pups. They witness the Chicxulub impact, although one of the pups is cooked alive and her mate succumbs to hypothermia. Purga and her surviving pup eventually arrive at a shore, where other Purgatorius are feeding on a dying Ankylosaurus. Her pup joins them but Purga, now elderly and satisfied that her offspring will survive, retreats and dies in her burrow. Her fossilized tooth is discovered by Joan Useb in 2010.

Plesi (63 Mya, North America). A female plesiadapid. Although Earth is lush again, her species still looks very similar to Purgatorius. She has two pups and one of them is killed by an Oxyclaenus.

Noth (51 Mya, Ellesmere Island). A 2-year-old Notharctus male living with its herd in the Arctic forests. His species is lemur-looking, matriarchal and far more social, but still lacks a theory of mind. Noth wanders for weeks with his sister, surviving an attack on their family by a sociopathic fellow, Solo. They eventually find another herd, whose leader accepts Noth and his sister for defeating Solo and allows them to mate with the rest of the herd.

Capo (5 Mya, North African coast). A 40-year-old australopithecine dominant male living in the dry Mediterranean basin. His species has occasional consciousness, basic bipedalism, instinctive toolmaking and a theory of mind, but is incapable of teaching. As his forest is shrinking, Capo leads part of his group to a larger one, despite being ill-suited to cross the plains in between. However, it is already claimed by a bigger clan of their species and they are forced to live in the open plains and feed on carcasses.

Far (1.5 Mya, Rift Valley). A 9-year-old female hominid living with her tribe in the savannah. Her species is now fully bipedal and omnivorous, as well as surviving past their reproductive age to take important social roles. Forced by a grassland fire to take refuge in a jungle, she survives an attack by pithecines and eventually joins another hominid tribe, who use axes much to her amazement. She invents body painting while playing with ocher, allowing her to court a young male and be accepted by the group.

Pebble (127 kya, Central Kenya). An 8-year-old neanderthal male. After his tribe is attacked, he leads the survivors and settle in the Mediterranean coast years later. There he meets Harpoon, a female modern human (Homo sapiens sapiens). Her tribe has more sophisticated huts and tools, as well as clothing and domesticated wolves. Trading seafood for tools, both tribes come together and Pebble and Harpoon mate. After swimming afloat logs to a nearby island, they exterminate the last Homo erectus there.

Mother or Ja-ahn (60 kya, Sahara). A 30-year-old woman living in the savannah. Schizophrenia allows her to understand causality, invent the spear-thrower and form simple sentences, which are quickly learned by the rest of her tribe. When her son dies, Mother murders her aunt believing that she was responsible through unseen means. The incident originates superstition and Mother is regarded as a sage. Two more members are sacrificed due to Mother's superstitions about blood and rain in an attempt to solve the drought. She eventually dies of cancer and is named Ja-ahn after their language's word for "mother", becoming the first human with a proper name, as well becoming mythicized.

Ejan (52 kya, Indonesia). A 20-year-old man. His people are the most ancient characters in the novel that speak normally. He lives with his ill mother in an increasingly crowded village. Ejan carves a canoe with his sister to sail to the southern landmass, becoming the first humans to set foot in Australia. Over the next millennium, people migrate there and the siblings become mythicized.

Jana (51 kya, Northwestern Australia). A 21-year-old man. He tries to court a girl but is not allowed to by her brothers due to his polio-struck leg. To hunt large game, he invents setting forests on fire and manages to trap a Genyornis. He returns with its head, impressing the village.

Jo'on (47 kya, New South Wales). A 40-year-old man partnered with Leda, a 39-year-old woman. As Leda's brother uses flint to hunt better than with spears, she asks Jo'on to go the coast to obtain some.

Jahna (31 kya, Western France). A girl living in a settlement during the Ice Age. Her people's village, cognitive capacity and culture are more sophisticated than those of neanderthals, which they often abuse and exploit. While hunting, Jahna and her brother get lost when an ice storm breaks. Days later, they take shelter in the cave of a massive, 40-year-old neanderthal male, "Old Man". Though superficially dangerous and unable to speak, Old Man takes care of them. However, a team led by their father eventually finds them and bludgeons Old Man in his sleep, amidst the children's protests.