What is the only living species in the genus Homo?

The only living species in the genus Homo is Homo sapiens.

Homo sapiens means “wise human” and refers to modern humans. We are the sole surviving member of a genus that once included several other human species, including Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Homo neanderthalensis. Those names describe extinct species or lineages, even though some of their populations overlapped with our own.

The genus Homo emerged in Africa more than two million years ago. Homo sapiens evolved there roughly 300,000 years ago and later spread across the world. Fossils, archaeology, and genetics show that modern humans also interbred with some extinct relatives, especially Neanderthals and Denisovans. Their DNA survives in many living populations, but those groups are not living species of Homo today.

A subtle point is that scientists continue to debate how many fossil human forms deserve separate species status. That debate changes the list of extinct Homo species, not the answer to this question. Under current biological classification, Homo sapiens is the only extant species in the genus; “extant” simply means still living.