The genomes of living animals are littered with DNA from long-gone relatives, providing a lens on evolution, past extinctions, and perhaps even solutions to agricultural problems.

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

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.

Using CRISPR to swap an archaic variant of the NOVA1 gene into human stem cells, researchers create organoids with neurodevelopmental differences from those carrying modern DNA.

Neanderthal DNA surprises in modern humans, the first blood test for Alzheimer’s, a discovery of new human salivary glands, and, oh yeah, a pandemic

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.

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.

Microscopic plant remnants found near the bones indicate that the ancient humans practiced burying rituals, but the archaeological field is not in full agreement.

A study points to the existence of an ancient human relative that interbred with Homo sapiens.

A new analysis of more than 2,500 human genomes indicates that modern Eurasians who acquired Neanderthal DNA during past interbreeding migrated back to Africa and spread those sequences.

The Scientist’s reporters tracked the development of CAR T cell therapies, explored the Neanderthal DNA in our genomes, and dove into a CRISPR controversy.

Researchers’ simulations suggest that small population sizes and inbreeding made Neanderthal populations vulnerable to chance fluctuations in population size.

A discovery of Neanderthal footprints reveals insights into the hominin’s social structure.

Fossil records show that the most recent shared ancestor with modern humans may have lived at least 800,000 years ago.

A mandible dating to 160,000 years ago is the first evidence of Denisovan hominins outside the Russian cave where they were first discovered in 2010.

Denisovans and Neanderthals likely overlapped at this Stone Age hot spot for thousands of years, and modern Homo sapiens may have dwelled there, too.