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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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mating

Recent DNA analysis of Neanderthal bones from Russia are providing insight into mating and migration habits, as well as social dynamics. Source: Gorondenkoff / Adobe Stock

First Known Neanderthal Family Identified with Ancient DNA from Russian Cave

DNA from Neanderthal bones found in a cave in Russia have revealed the first known family of Neanderthals – a father, his teenage daughter, and others who were probably cousins. A 2020 study...
Humans and Neanderthals Have More in Common than Polar and Brown Bears

Humans and Neanderthals Have More in Common than Polar and Brown Bears

Ancient humans and Neanderthals, and Denisovans, were genetically closer than polar bears and brown bears, and so, like the bears, were able to easily produce healthy, fertile hybrids according to a...
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...
Representative image of a Denisovan. Several studies have recently explored the spread of Denisovan genes. Source: ginettigino /Adobe Stock

March of the Denisovans: Evidence of Archaic Human Gene Now Detected In the Orient

The Denisovan story keeps evolving. This group of ancient hominins has been something of a mystery ever since they were first discovered in 2010 as an extinct sister group to the Neanderthals. Bits...
Comparison of faces of Homo sapiens (left) and Homo neanderthalensis (right). (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Prehistoric Humans are Likely to Have Formed Mating Networks to Avoid Inbreeding

Early humans seem to have recognized the dangers of inbreeding at least 34,000 years ago, and developed surprisingly sophisticated social and mating networks to avoid it, new research has found. The...
Researchers Want to Get the Dirt on How Much Neanderthals and Modern Humans had Sex

Researchers Want to Get the Dirt on How Much Neanderthals and Modern Humans had Sex

Would you have sex with a Homo sapiens neanderthalensis if they hadn’t gone extinct? Your ancestors may have. Scientists are testing cave dirt for the presence of Neanderthal DNA from disintegrated...
3.6-Million-Year-Old Footprints Imply That an Ancient Hominin Was a Tall, Dominant, and Polygamous Male

3.6-Million-Year-Old Footprints Imply That an Ancient Hominin Was a Tall, Dominant, and Polygamous Male

Footprints belonging to a group of early hominins who lived 3.6 million years ago were recently uncovered in Tanzania. The footprints indicate Australopithecus afarensis probably had a gorilla-like...
Monogamy in Humans

Evolution of Monogamy in Humans was the Result of Infanticide Risk

A new study has suggested that the prime reason that monogamy evolved in humans and primates was the threat of infants being killed by unrelated males. The team of researchers from University College...