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Evolution

The First Teacher? Study Finds Teaching and Tools Evolved Together

The First Teacher? Study Finds Teaching and Tools Evolved Together

Despite the diverse opinions on the origin of teaching, one thing that remains consistent is the need for effective communication and information dissemination. This is especially evident in academic...
An artist’s impression of the Oksoko avarsan dinosaur. Source: (Michaeol Skrepnick / University of Edinburgh)

Missing Link in Dinosaur Evolution Discovered in the Gobi Desert

Buried beneath the sands of Mongolia ’s Gobi Desert for 68 million years, multiple skeletons of a new species of feathered, two-fingered, toothless dinosaurs have been unearthed by a team of...
The location of early settlements to hot springs has led researchers to wonder if early humans used them as a cooking resource long before they discovered fire. A research team has analyzed samples from Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania and believes to have found the answer. Source: Tom Björklund / MIT

Did Early Humans Cook Their Food in Thermal Springs?

A study of some of the oldest remains associated with early humans from the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania has produced some intriguing results. A microbial study of sediments from 1.7-1.8 million years...
Evolutionary geneticists conducting a genome study have found that Neanderthals had a lower pain threshold than the majority of modern humans. Source: proct_ab / Adobe Stock

Do You Have a Low Pain Threshold? Blame Your Neanderthal Genes

Researchers believe that Neanderthals had a lower pain threshold than modern humans. A study has shown that because of genetic mutations our extinct relatives were more sensitive to pain. We...
Uncovering the history of timekeeping through archaeological exploration and historic research. Source: jozefklopacka/Adobe Stock

A History of Timekeeping: Mankind’s Obsession With Time

From our humble hunter-gatherer beginnings to the most advanced of ancient civilizations, the sun and moon have always held a particular fascination for humanity. Several forms of tools, monuments,...
Thanks to fossil DNA, geneticists now know that different lineages of our ancestors interbred with one another, creating new genetic lines and ensuring the modern human race is genetically diverse. Pictured: Representation of our prehistoric ancestors.      Source: Kovalenko I / Adobe stock

How Ancient Fossil DNA Reveals the Secrets of Our Human Origins

When the human genome was first discovered, it revealed some amazing genetic secrets – modern humans are way more complicated than we originally thought. During a long evolution , humankind picked up...
A. Sebida hand bones show this human ancestor’s grip was similar to a modern human’s.       Source: Peter Schmid, courtesy of Tracy Kivell/University of Kent

2 Million-Year-Old Human Ancestor Had A Grip Just Like Us

Inhabiting what is now modern-day South Africa, an ancient human ancestor, Australopithecus sediba, that lived two million years ago had hands that might have enabled it to carry out some movements...
The Engare Sero footprint site, which preserves at least 408 prehistoric footprints dated to between 19,100 and 5,760 years ago. An eruption of Ol Doinyo Lengai, the volcano in the background, produced the ash in which the human footprints were preserved.   Source: Cynthia Liutkus-Pierce / Nature

400 Prehistoric Footprints Reveal Clues to Our Ancestors

Scientists reveal a volume of new data about the group of hunter-gatherers who left their prehistoric footprints in mud. In the shadow of the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano in Tanzania , the Engare Sero...
Scientists studying 55-million-year-old fossils using groundbreaking tech have revealed that after the extinction of dinosaurs, giant anchovies roamed the sea. Pictured: Artist’s impression of saber-toothed anchovy being caught by an early whale.   Source: © Joschua Knüppe

55-Million-Year-Old Fossils Reveal Giant Anchovies With Monstrous Fangs

Scientists have made an amazing discovery about the humble anchovy. These small fish are usually found as a topping on a pizza. However, millions of years ago, they were saber-toothed predators who...
This illustration depicts NASA's Perseverance rover operating on the surface of Mars. Source: NASA / JPL-Caltech

Promising Signs For Perseverance Rover’s Quest for Martian Life

New research indicates river delta deposits within Mars' Jezero crater - the destination of NASA's Perseverance rover on the Red Planet - formed over time scales that promoted habitability and...
Hippopotamus and Crocodile Hunt by Peter Paul Rubens, (1616) (Public Domain)

Ancient Sharks and Crocodiles’ Nemesis: Man

Since ancient times, people have feared sharks and crocodiles. But how long have these two species actually been on earth and how did they evolve? Crocodiles and sharks have one thing in common: the...
Stone balls, aka petrospheres were found at Qesem cave, Israel.        Source: Assaf et al 2020

Mystery of Stone Balls at ‘Magic’ Qesem Cave Finally Solved

Petrospheres, or spheroids, are two archaeological names for any man-made spherical object made from stone. These mostly prehistoric artifacts have been found intricately carved and painted,...
A new study finds that three different human species lived alongside each other. Source: pict rider / Adobe Stock.

Three Different Human-like Species Lived Concurrently in Ancient Africa

The oldest known Homo erectus and Paranthropus robustus fossils have been found in a hilltop cave and a new study details a critical period of hominin evolution showing that two million years ago “...
Homo naledi juvenile skeleton (Bolter et al. 2020) and reconstruction of a Homo naledi adult. (Cicero Moraes (Arc-Team) et al/CC BY 4.0)

Ancient Hominin Skeleton Holds Clues To How Our Ancestors Grew Up

There are various ways researchers can explore the evolution of ancient humans and our relatives. Mapping their movements through genetic migrations , discovering more about what they ate and their...
Homo antecessor shared many facial features with modern humans. Source: Terrae Antiqvae

‘Distinct’ Facial Features Have Been Around For A Very Long Time

A new study suggests that human facial features are found deep within our ancestry. Some say that the similarities between the facial features of modern humans and the controversial Early Pleistocene...
An artist's rendering of the ancient wormlike creature called Ikaria wariootia. Source: Sohail Wasif/UCR

Rice-Sized Ancient Worms are the Ancestors of All Animals

Geologists have discovered the first ancestor on the family tree that contains most animals today, including humans. The ancient worm-like creature , Ikaria wariootia , is the earliest bilaterian, or...
Study from international team of researchers shows introduced hippos in Colombia can restore a lost world. Left: Mugshot of Pablo Escobar. Right: A representation of hippo in a river.       Source: Left; Colombian National Police / Public domain, Right; Carl / Adobe stock

Could Pablo Escobar’s Hippos in Colombia Restore a Lost World?

University of Massachusetts A study from an international team of researchers including UMass Amherst biologist John Rowan shows introduced species (e.g. hippos in Colombia) can restore a lost world...
The fins of this fish played a role in the origins of the human hand. Source: Katrina Kenny, Author provided

This Ancient Four-Limbed Fish Reveals the Origins of the Human Hand

By John Long & Richard Cloutier / The Conversation One of the most significant events in the history of life was when fish evolved into tetrapods , crawling out of the water and eventually...
Little Foot’s skull, with the arrow on the right-hand image indicating the specimen’s atlas.      Source: R.J. Clarke/Author supplied

Little Foot’s Skeleton Adds To Human Evolution Story

Amélie Beaudet / The Conversation In his book Wonderful Life , Professor Stephen Jay Gould – an evolutionary biologist, paleontologist and widely-read popular science author – described the evolution...
Amber holds the secret to the tiny world of the age of dinosaurs.  Source: Xing Lida, CC BY-ND / The Conversation

This Tiny Predator Existed Alongside the Giant Dinosaurs

By Lars Schmitz & Jingmai Kathleen O'Connor / The Conversation In 2016, our colleague Xing Lida held up a small piece of polished, deeply yellow amber. As sunlight shone through the ancient resin...
Image of human foot demonstrating the arch.          Source: Alessandro Grandini

Scientists Study 3.5-Million-Year-Old Origins of Unique Human Spring

Scientists have proven the arch running across the top of the human foot evolved in a 3.5-million-year old human ancestor, enabling us to walk and run upright unlike all other primates. Sports...
Ancient couple

Super Archaic Humans Mixed with Unknown 'Ghost' Species

Do you remember those school science posters that depicted human evolution with a primate standing up and becoming a modern human? Of course you do, but you may not have noticed that these posters...
The Shum Laka rock shelter in Cameroon, home to an ancient population that bears little genetic resemblance to most people who live in the region today.    Source: Pierre de Maret

Ancient DNA From West Africa Reveals ‘Ghost’ Lineage

Saint Louis University Africa is the homeland of our species and harbors greater human genetic diversity than any other part of the planet. Studies of ancient DNA from African archaeological sites...
The lower jaw of the 7.175 million-year-old Graecopithecus freybergi (El Graeco) from Pyrgos Vassilissis, Greece (today in metropolitan Athens).

7.2 million-Year-Old Pre-Human Fossil A Challenge to Out of Africa?

A new analysis of two 7.2 million-year-old fossils belonging to a hominin species nicknamed “El Graeco” from Mediterranean Europe, suggests that mankind emerged in Europe and not in Africa. The new...

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