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.

Impressions that ancient brains left in fossilized skulls reveal that the first human ancestors to migrate out of Africa had much more primitive brains than previously thought.

A new analysis of the hand of the 4.4-million-year-old partial skeleton of Ardipithecus ramidus indicates that the human ancestor may have climbed and swung through trees like chimpanzees do.

Watch researchers travel to a cave deep in the Amazon to search for clues about the first humans to populate the Americas.

Watch Reading Frames author Peter Rhys-Evans and documentarian Sir David Attenborough discuss the book The Waterside Ape and the impact it may have on our understanding of human evolution.

In Chapter 11, “Surfer’s Ear,” author Peter Rhys-Evans describes a key piece of evidence he says supports his hypothesis of a brief period of semi-aquatic living in early hominins.

A recent book outlines fossil evidence supporting the controversial hypothesis.

For the past 10 years, life science has moved us closer to a complete understanding of what makes us human—our similarities, our differences, and our shared history.

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

The 12-million-year-old bones of a previously unknown species named Danuvius guggenmosi challenge the prevailing view about when and where our ancestors first started walking upright.

Dental calculus provides a look into the diets of 42 people who died during the Great Irish Famine.

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

Human remains around Roopkund Lake in India bear South Asian, East Asian, and Mediterranean ancestry.

Sequences from dozens of ancient remains from Siberia reveal the closest ancient relative of Native Americans found outside of North America.

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.

Isotope changes in the bones demonstrate a similar pattern across far-flung islands.

Genetic analysis of a bone fragment reveals the girl’s mixed ancestry 90,000 years ago. 

An 88,000-year-old finger bone places human ancestors in Arabia earlier than previously believed.

New research provides evidence that the ancient hominin species might not be so ancient after all.