Human Evolution

Mysterious Skull Fossils Expand Human Family Tree — But Questions Remain

Fossilized bones found in Israel and China, including a specimen named ‘Dragon Man’, could belong to new types of ancient human. But the findings have sparked debate.

Nature

Discovery of ‘Dragon Man’ Skull May Add Species to Human Family Tree

A laborer discovered the fossil and hid it in a well for 85 years. Scientists say it could help sort out the human family tree and how our species emerged.

The New York Times

Sediment DNA Reveals a 300,000-Year Timeline of Ancient and Modern Humans Living in Siberia

Research has also uncovered major long-term changes in ancient animal populations at Denisova Cave, and has provided the first direct evidence of Homo sapiens having lived there.

The Conversation

Earth Was Once a Planet of the Apes — and They Set the Stage for Human Evolution

More than 10 million years ago, the world was brimming with a wide variety of apes. Scientists studying the ones that are still alive today can learn a lot about human evolution — but they miss out on many clues that can only be found from the apes that went extinct.

Science

The Gene Regulation Differences That (Possibly) Made Us Human

A new study looks at differences in gene regulation between our modern selves and extinct species of humans.

Predict, Medium

Remains of a 3-Year-Old Child Are the Oldest Known Burial in Africa

The discovery sheds light on how people in the region cared for their dead at that time.

New Scientist

Our Ancestors First Developed Humanlike Brains 1.7 Million Years Ago

A recent study analyzed the skulls of early Homo species to learn more about the evolution of primate brains.

Big Think

Oldest DNA From a Homo Sapiens Reveals Surprisingly Recent Neanderthal Ancestry

Ancient human lineages interbred commonly in Europe, as well as the Middle East.

Nature

New Discoveries Fundamentally Change the Picture of Human Evolution in Africa

Archaeological excavations at Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter, in the southern Kalahari Desert, revealed crystals and other early evidence for complex behaviors among early Homo sapiens.

CNN

Mini-Brains Show Why Human Brains Grow Larger Than Those of Other Apes

Madeline Lancaster and her colleagues at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, U.K., grew miniature brain organoids to mimic early brain development in humans, gorillas, and chimpanzees.

New Scientist

Tanzanian Bow-and-Arrow Hunters Offer Insight on Evolution of Technology

New research suggests both causal knowledge and cultural norms are responsible for bow-and-arrow technology innovations among Hadza hunters, concepts that are key to the success of Earth’s most dominant species: humans.

UPI

Neanderthal-Inspired ‘Minibrains’ Hint at What Makes Modern Humans Special

A single genetic tweak changes organoids’ shape and cellular connections.

Science

Earliest Human Culture Lasted 20,000 Years Later Than Previously Thought

For a period of time at the end of the Middle Stone Age and beginning of the Late Stone Age, populations practicing distinct stone tool-making traditions lived alongside one another, with no obvious cultural crossover. “These findings do not fit a simple unilinear model of cultural change towards ‘modernity,’” said Eleanor Scerri.

UPI

Did Neanderthals Go to War With Our Ancestors?

Exactly why the Neanderthals died out 40,000 years ago is still greatly debated, but evolutionary biologist Nicholas Longrich looks at the evidence for a war between them and modern humans.

BBC Future

The Coronavirus in Evolutionary Perspective

Humans evolved social potential to cooperate with others will eventually ignite a collective response to fight COVID-19 around the globe.

The Evolution Institute

Archaeologists Uncover a Lost World and Extinct Ecosystem

An entirely new way to reconstruct “paleoecologies” or ancient ecosystems.

ASU Now

Scientist Unearthed Earliest Evidence of Humans in Europe

But we weren’t alone.

Inverse

Three Human-Like Species Lived Side-by-Side in Ancient Africa

Two million years ago, Africa was home to three human-like species, new discoveries reveal.

BBC News

Mysterious ‘Ghost’ Populations Had Multiple Trysts With Human Ancestors

Genomic studies show interbreeding goes back at least half a million years.

Science

Is Human Cooperativity an Outcome of Competition Between Cultural Groups?

A study by ASU researchers looks at how culture may have fueled our capacity to cooperate with strangers.

ASU Now

Neanderthal Genes Hint at Much Earlier Human Migration From Africa

Modern humans may have left the continent as long 200,000 years ago, a new analysis suggests.

The New York Times