human evolution

Diverse lines of evidence point to humans’ presence in the New World long before the dawn of Clovis culture. But rewriting this chapter of human history raises many questions about how these early people came to inhabit these continents.

In Chapter 7, “More Remarkable Encounters,” author Gregory Forth relays a story told to him by Tegu, a Lio man who says he found and disposed of a dead organism that might fit the description of an "ape-man."

Do members of Homo floresiensis still inhabit the Indonesian island where their fossils helped identify a new human species fewer than 20 years ago?

The field of ancient DNA, which combines archaeology and anthropology with cutting-edge genetics, is requiring scientists to have frank conversations about when research is justified and who it benefits.

The Kenyan fossil finder is known for his discoveries of various Stone Age artifacts and ancient human skulls and skeletons.

Analysis of DNA from remains found in an Indonesian cave provides new insight into human movements among the islands between East Asia and Australia.

Taieb recognized the potential importance of the Hadar Formation, where remains of the hominin Australopithecus afarensis were found only a few years later.

Researchers found the relatively high proportion of DNA from a hominin cousin—nearly 5 percent—when they scanned more than 1,000 genomes from 118 distinct ethnic groups.

An analysis concludes that pigments were transported into the cave, and the marks were made with intention, though their ultimate meaning remains unknown.

Researchers are using experiments and observational studies to look for host genetic variation that could be partly determined by the gut microbiota.

Bacteria that live in the digestive tracts of animals may influence the adaptive trajectories of their hosts.

A massive, well-preserved skull discovered in China in the 1930s belongs to a new species called Homo longi, researchers report, but experts remain skeptical about the evidence.

A selective advantage may have led the modern human Y chromosome to sweep through the Neanderthal population after it was introduced via interbreeding more than 100,000 years ago.

Africa’s sparse fossil record alone cannot reveal our species’ evolutionary history.

Modern human genomes and bones left behind from ancient hominins in Africa tell a complex story about the origins of our species.

Genetic evidence points to individuals from South America having possibly floated on a raft to Polynesian islands about 500 years before Europeans navigated there.

A tooth and six bone fragments are the oldest confirmed Homo sapiens fossils in Europe.

Researchers discover a fragment of cord between 41,000 and 52,000 years old that points to Neanderthals’ complex cognitive abilities.

An analysis of fossilized teeth sheds light on the evolutionary relationships between Pleistocene hominins.