One prominent view holds that episodic memory emerged recently in humans and lacks a “(neo)Darwinian evolution” [Tulving E (2002) /Annu Rev Psychol/53:1­25]. Here, we review evidence supporting the alternative perspective that episodic memory has a long evolutionary history. We show that fundamental features of episodic memory capacity are present in mammals and birds and that the major brain regions responsible for episodic memory in humans have anatomical and functional homologsin other species. We propose that episodic memory capacity depends on a fundamental neural circuit that is similar across mammalian and avian species, suggesting that protoepisodic memory systems exist across amniotes and, possibly, all vertebrates. Theimplication is that episodic memory in diverse species may primarily be due to a shared underlying neural ancestry, rather than the result of evolutionary convergence. We also discuss potential advantages that episodic memory may offer, as well as species-­specific divergences that have developed on top of the fundamental episodic memory architec­ture. We conclude by identifying possible time points for the emergence of episodic memory in evolution, to help guide further research in this area