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Human Evolution

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New Fossil Discovery May Change What We Know About Human Evolution

The ancient species Homo naledi had small brains and seems to have intentionally carried their dead into caves

Sure, it looks cute now, but a new study explores why babies influence their moms' DNA for years.

New Research

Baby’s Cells Can Manipulate Mom’s Body for Decades

An evolutionary approach may help scientists understand why mothers become genetic chimeras and how that affects their health

New Research

Scientists Just Identified a Pinkie That’s Almost 2 Million Years Old

And it could be a major evolutionary breakthrough

Dating human remains (such as this 800-year old skeleton found in Bulgaria) often relies on radiocarbon dating

New Research

Climate Change Might Break Carbon Dating

Fossil fuel emissions mess with the ratio of carbon isotopes in the atmosphere

Brazil's Surui people, like the man pictured above, share ancestry with indigenous Australians, new evidence suggests.

New Research

A DNA Search for the First Americans Links Amazon Groups to Indigenous Australians

The new genetic analysis takes aim at the theory that just one founding group settled the Americas

An illustration shows the process of cell division, which involves chromosome pairs swapping some of their genetic data.

New Research

Human Sex Chromosomes Are Sloppy DNA Swappers

The genetic bundles that code for males and females can get a little messy when they trade pieces during cell division

New Research

In Some Ways, Human Hands Are More Primitive Than Chimp Hands

Study suggests our common ancestor had humanlike hands

A chimpanzee family in Uganda in 2010.

Cool Finds

What Does it Really Mean to Be 99 Percent Chimp?

This video breaks down our statistical similarity to chimpanzees

Previous analysis of the Kennewick Man's skull suggested that he might be closely related to Asian populations and Polynesians. But new genetic analysis indicates his ancestral roots are in the Americas.

New Research

Genome Analysis Links Kennewick Man to Native Americans

Ancient DNA sequenced from the skeleton adds to the controversy over the individual’s ancestry

Snail shells found in Lebanon indicate humans were using modern tools before they reached Europe

New Research

Tools Weren’t Invented in Europe, They Were Carried There 50,000 Years Ago

Analysis of shells and human bones from a site in Lebanon suggests modern tools were in use

New Research

Investigating the Case of the Earliest Known Murder Victim

A 430,000-year-old skull discovered in a Spanish cave bears evidence of deliberate, lethal blunt force trauma

Unearthed at the Cova Negra site in Spain, skull fragments from a Neanderthal child have telltale punctures in the right parietal region.

New Research

Ancient Carnivores Had a Taste for Neanderthal Meat

Researchers link bite marks on a Neanderthal skull to the fangs of an ancient big cat

At 3.3 million years old, tools unearthed at the Lomekwi 3 excavation site in Kenya, like the one pictured above, represent the oldest known evidence of stone tools, researchers suggest.

The Oldest Stone Tools Yet Discovered Are Unearthed in Kenya

3.3 million-year-old artifacts predate the human genus

New Research

Here’s How Europeans Quickly Evolved Lighter Skin

Darker skinned people lived in Europe until fairly recently

A closeup of the Ledi jaw taken just steps from where it was found in the Afar region of Ethiopia.

Anthropocene

Oldest Human Fossil Unearthed in Ethiopia

At about 2.8 million years old, the Ledi jaw may belong to “the stem for the Homo genus,” according to its discoverers

New Research

Gene Changes Make Humans’ Sense of Taste Unique

Our ability to eat bitter plants help distinguish us from our ancestors and chimpanzees today

Early Homo sapiens, a skull of which is shown here, may have coexisted with the primitive human whose jawbone was recently discovered by a fisherman off the coast of Taiwan

New Research

Did Fishermen Find Evidence of an Unknown Group of Primitive Humans?

A fossilized jawbone pulled from the seafloor near Taiwan may be from an ancient type of hominin new to science

New Research

Ancient Dogs Likely Arrived in America Thousands of Years After Humans

New research on dog DNA shows that they migrated to the new world much later than initially thought

New Research

Ants Usually Turn Left While Exploring

It’s a sinister version of human’s tendency towards right-handedness

Researchers found that human joint-bone density remained pretty high until recently in our evolutionary history, around the same time that humans began switching from hunting and gathering to farming.

Switching to Farming Made Human Joint Bones Lighter

A more fragile skeleton evolved about 12,000 years ago, probably driven by a shift from hunting to agriculture

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