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Human Evolution

Researchers studied ancient tooth fossils and found that a gene mutation in modern humans (right) better protected them against lead and gave them an advantage over Neanderthals (left). 

Our Human Ancestors Were Exposed to Lead, and New Research Suggests It May Have Shaped Human Evolution

Lead exposure may have spelled evolutionary success for humans—and extinction for our ancient cousins—but other scientists are casting doubt on the headline-making study

A superb fairy-wren calls to a Horsfield's bronze-cuckoo. Brood parasites like cuckoos lay eggs in other birds' nests and leave them behind for the host birds to raise.

Birds Make an Alarm Call That Spans Species and Continents—and May Offer Insight Into the Evolution of Human Language

More than 20 species make a nearly identical noise to warn nearby birds of brood parasites, a behavior that bridges the “sharp division between animal communication systems and human language”

Yunxian 1 (left) and Yunxian 2 (right) are skulls unearthed in China that had been badly crushed. Scientists digitally reconstructed Yunxian 2 (center) and analyzed its relationship to other early human fossils.

Scientists Reconstruct a Million-Year-Old Skull and Suggest It Could Rewrite Our Timeline of Human Evolution

A recent study dramatically pushes back the date for the emergence of our species, though some researchers call for further evidence

Some of the impacted points and bladelets found at Obi-Rakhmat

New Research

Could These 80,000-Year-Old Stones Be the World’s Earliest Known Arrowheads?

A new study suggests that fragments unearthed at an archaeological site in Uzbekistan look like other examples of arrowheads created thousands of years later

The wide, basin-shaped pelvis of modern humans helps us walk upright on two legs and give birth safely to babies with large heads.

Scientists Discover Key Evolutionary Changes to the Pelvis That Helped Humans Walk Upright

A new study delves into the development of the ilium, the largest bone in the pelvis, and the genes that underpin its formation

The Nyayanga excavation site in Kenya, in July 2025. Fossils and Oldowan tools have been excavated from the tan and reddish-brown sediments, which date to more than 2.6 million years old.

Early Humans Moved Stones Long Distances to Make Tools 600,000 Years Earlier Than Thought

A new study takes another look at some of the oldest known stone tools and suggests their makers transported materials for up to eight miles

This stone tool found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, along with six others, suggest hominins were present on the island and making tools far earlier than thought.

Cool Finds

1.04-Million-Year-Old Stone Tools Found on Indonesian Island Offer Clues About Some of the Region’s Earliest Human Relatives

The toolmakers or their ancestors might have arrived on Sulawesi by clinging to vegetation during a storm, but their identities remain a mystery

Throughout time, women and children have processed food on a daily basis, playing a central role in the story of human survival and evolution.

Through Much of Human History, Women Have Shaped Evolution Through Food Processing

An anthropologist highlights the revolutionary role of the practice, which was often led by women, and was just as crucial to surviving and thriving as hunting

Researchers suggest 140,000-year-old child remains from Israel's Skhūl Cave may have belonged to a Homo sapiens-Neanderthal hybrid.

A Child’s Skull That Has Long Confounded Archaeologists Might Be a Human-Neanderthal Hybrid, Study Suggests

According to new CT scans and models, parts of the 140,000-year-old skull resemble those of modern humans, while the jaw appears to be more similar to those of our extinct relatives

Scientists and artists collaborated to reconstruct the face of a 10,500-year-old woman whose remains were found in the Meuse Valley of Belgium.

See the Face of a 10,500-Year-Old Woman, Reconstructed by Archaeologists and Artists

Using well-preserved ancient DNA, researchers have created a life-like facial reconstruction of a woman who lived in Belgium’s Meuse Valley during the Mesolithic period

The Dragon Man skull, described as Homo longi in 2021, belongs to a Denisovan, according to new research.

Iconic ‘Dragon Man’ Skull Offers First Glimpse of What a Denisovan’s Face Looked Like, New Genetic Studies Suggest

The mysterious ancient humans were only known from fossil fragments. Now, two papers argue a skull uncovered in China belongs to this group, after examining preserved DNA and proteins

Discovered in a rock shelter in central Spain in July 2022, the stone measures more than eight inches long and more than four inches wide.

New Research

Did a Neanderthal Who Lived 43,000 Years Ago Paint a Red Nose on a Rock That Looked Like a Face?

Researchers theorize that an adult male dipped his finger in red ocher and intentionally used the pigment to complete the face he saw on a small granite stone

This skull of a 1.8-million-year-old Paranthropus robustus individual was unearthed in South Africa, but it was not one of the fossils included in the study.

Scientists Investigate 2.2-Million-Year-Old Tooth Enamel to Unravel the Mysteries of Ancient Human Relatives

By studying proteins preserved in teeth, researchers determined the sex of four Paranthropus robustus individuals that lived in southern Africa

Stone Age humans were likely scavenging the remains of whales that washed ashore along the Bay of Biscay and fashioning them into tools. This projectile point made from a gray whale bone was found in Landes, France, and dated to between 17,500 and 18,000 years ago.

Scientists Discover the Oldest Known Tools Made From Whale Bones, Crafted in Western Europe 20,000 Years Ago

Stone Age humans scavenged the skeletons of several whale species along the Bay of Biscay in what is now southwestern France and northern Spain, according to a new study

Researchers have used genomic sequencing to trace what they’re calling the “longest migration out of Africa.”

New Research

Scientists Use DNA to Trace Early Humans’ Footsteps From Asia to South America

Over thousands of years, humans from Eurasia trekked more than 12,400 miles to eventually reach the southernmost tip of South America, a new genetic investigation suggests

Teacher John T. Scopes (second from left) stands in the courtroom during his trial for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution in his high school science class.

A Century Ago, a High School Teacher From a Small Tennessee Town Ignited a National Debate Over Human Evolution

The Scopes “monkey trial” garnered international attention, and the battle that was fought continues in some form in other states today

The Schöningen spears on display in Germany

New Research

Nimble-Minded Neanderthals May Have Used These Wooden Spears to Hunt 200,000 Years Ago

New research shows that the weapons found in Germany are much younger than previously thought, suggesting they were made by skilled Neanderthal craftspeople

Human wounds take longer to heal than the wounds of other mammals, researchers find. That could be because we have fewer hair follicles, and stem cells in hair follicles help regrow skin after an injury.

Human Evolution Traded Fur for Sweat Glands—and Now, Our Wounds Take Longer to Heal Than Those of Other Mammals

Even compared to chimpanzees, one of our closest relatives, humans’ scrapes and cuts tend to stick around for more than twice as long, new research suggests

Two juvenile bonobos embrace in Lola Ya Bonobo Santuary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. New research suggests female bonobos form coalitions to gain or maintain power in their societies.

Female Bonobos Assert Their Dominance Over Males by Banding Together, New Study Suggests

Bonobos, which are among our closest living relatives, live in rare societies where females tend to outrank males, even though males are larger and stronger. Scientists compiled decades of observations to explain why

For the first time known to scientists, a team has documented chimps sharing alcoholic fruit.

Watch Wild Chimpanzees Share Alcoholic Fruit, a Behavior Just Captured on Video for the First Time

Though the reason behind this action is unclear, researchers suggest socially consuming alcohol may have offered evolutionary benefits to a common ancestor of both humans and chimps

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