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Australopithecus

An AI illustration of a Neanderthal (archaic human) isolated on white background. Source: Bartek/Adobe Stock

5 Incredible Human Species That Went Extinct (Video)

Human evolution , spanning over 7 million years, once featured a diverse array of species, each with unique adaptations and survival strategies. Among them, Australopithecus stands out, thriving in...
Representation of an Australopithecus family. The evolution of human birth takes us back to Australopithecus afarensis like “Lucy” that may have required some help in childbirth. Source:  Andrii/Adobe Stock

The Evolution of Human Birth: An Incredible Story a Million Years in the Making

Australopithecus afarensis, a human ancestor could have given birth in a way that combines the childbirth practices of chimpanzees and human beings a team of scientists have claimed. They reported...
Cavemen puzzled by a mobile phone  ( Blue Planet Studio/Adobe Stock)

Collective Learning: So Easy, Even A Caveman Could Do It

Ever since Darwin brought up the fact that the human race had apes as distant ancestors, modern humans have been uneasy and a little defensive. They mocked the simian nature of Australopithecus ,...
Two of the four different Australopithecus crania that were found in the Sterkfontein caves, South Africa. Source: Jason Heaton and Ronald Clarke, in cooperation with the Ditsong Museum of Natural History / Wits University

Sterkfontein Hominin Fossils Redated To A Million Years Older

Researchers at the Sterkfontein Caves in South Africa, famous for the discovery of ‘Little Foot’ and a ream of other ancient hominin remains, have yielded dating results that could overturn the...
Life reconstruction of Australopithecus sediba commissioned by the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History.  Sculpture by Elisabeth Daynes.	Source: S. Entressangle / Wits University

Spinal Missing Link Is Discovered Unifying Apes, Neanderthals and Us

A team of scientists has analyzed a set of two-million-year-old so-called ‘missing link’ fossils. Unlike anything presented before, their new study shows how the ancient human relative,...
Our human ancestors, who lived in Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa, were likely Homo habilis.

Breakthrough Research Reveals Wonderwerk Cave Is the World’s Oldest Home

In the Kalahari Desert of South Africa, has produced a cornucopia of wonders for archaeologists searching for the truth about human origins. Cave art, stone tools, burned bones, soil, and ash, and a...
It Really Was a Planet of the Apes Two Million Years Ago

It Really Was a Planet of the Apes Two Million Years Ago

New genetic research shows early humans’ brains were “much more ape-like” than what is measured in modern humans. What this means is that the first waves of human ancestors to migrate out of Africa...
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...
Oldupai (Olduvai) Gorge in Tanzania, one of Africa’s ‘cradles of humankind’.  Source: CC BY 2.0

Archaeological Discoveries Are Occurring Faster Than Ever

In 1924, a 3-year-old child’s skull found in South Africa forever changed how people think about human origins. The Taung Child, our first encounter with an ancient group of proto-humans or hominins...
Great Ape

Lucy Wasn’t As Smart As Today’s Great Apes

Researchers have found that early humans such as the famous ‘Lucy’ were not as smart as the great apes. Using new methods, they have been able to determine that early humans did not have the same...
The teeth in these Australopithecus africanus skulls contain important evidence about the nutrition of these individuals as they grew up. Source: Luca Fiorenza, Fair Use

Teeth ‘Time Capsule’ Reveals That 2 million Years Ago, Early Humans Breastfed For Up To 6 years!

By Renaud Joannes-Boyau , Ian Moffat , Justin W. Adams , and Luca Fiorenza / The Conversation Humans’ distant ancestor Australopithecus africanus had a unique approach to raising their young, as...
Penablanca, Cagayan Province, Philippines, near the entrance to the limestone Callao Cave where there is evidence of a new human species. Source: Michael / Adobe. Inset: A foot bone from Homo luzonensis. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

How Much Evidence is Enough to Declare a New Species of Human from a Philippines Cave Site?

The announcement of a new species of ancient human (more correctly hominin) from the Philippines , reported today in Nature , will cause a lot of head-shaking among anthropologists and archaeologists...
Little Foot skull still in place in the Sterkfontein cave.

Scientists estimate fossilized pre-human creature lived 3.67 million years ago

In 2015, scientists announced an earlier time frame than previously estimated for the lifetime of an early proto-human dubbed Little Foot – as much as 3.67 million years ago. The nearly complete...
Model of the foot (with missing elements) of the Australopithecus afarensis Dikika child.

The Dikka Child Toddled Over the Ethiopian Landscape 200,000 Years Before Lucy

More than 3 million years ago, our ancient human ancestors, including their toddler-aged children, were standing on two feet and walking upright, according to a new study published in Science...
Professor Ron Clarke busy excavating the Little Foot Skull from the Sterkfontein Caves.

Most Complete Ancient Human Relative Skeleton Is Unveiled

South Africa's status as a major cradle in the African nursery of humankind has been reinforced with today's unveiling of "Little Foot," the country's oldest, virtually complete fossil human ancestor...
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...
A view of the fossilized, 1.7-million-year-old hominin toe bone upon which the cancerous tumor was diagnosed.

Researchers Diagnose Earliest Known Cancer on 1.7-Million-Year-Old Hominin Fossil

Scientists have identified a particularly lethal form of cancer on the fossilized toe bone of an early human relative who lived about 1.7 million years ago in South Africa. The tumor is the oldest...
One Million Years of the Human Story at the Natural History Museum.

Bigger Brains Led to Bigger Bodies in Our Ancestors

New research suggests that humans became the large-brained, large-bodied animals we are today because of natural selection to increase brain size. The work, published in the journal Current...
A. afarensis reconstruction, an adult left ulna of Australopithecus afarensis. Several fossilized teeth have also been found in the Kantis site. Credit: Image courtesy of Kyoto University

Australopithecus Fossils Found East of the Great Rift Valley

New fossils from Kenya suggest that an early hominid species -- Australopithecus afarensis -- lived far eastward beyond the Great Rift Valley and much farther than previously thought. An...
Top 10 Human Origins Discoveries in 2015

Top 10 Human Origins Discoveries in 2015

In 2015, DNA analysis provided deeper insight into the lives of our ancient ancestors. Studies of their appearance, diet, living conditions, and the human family tree, were all hot topics. Research...
A Homo Naledi Foot (a) Dorsal view (b) Distal view of the cuneiforms and the cuboid in which the reconstruction of the transverse arc is observed (c) Middle view showing the moderate longitudinal arch. Scale in centimeters.

The Feet and Hands of Homo Naledi were Similar to those of Modern Humans – Could this be the Evolutionary Link Paleontologists Were Waiting for?

Homo Naledi brings new surprises that could change the history of evolution for modern humans. Is this finally one of the missing links in human evolution that paleontologists have been waiting for?...
A portrait painted by John Cooke in 1915 showing scientists involved in the Piltdown man case: F. O. Barlow, G. Elliot Smith, Charles Dawson, Arthur Smith Woodward. Front row: A. S. Underwood, Arthur Keith, W. P. Pycraft, and Sir Ray Lankester.

Piltdown Man: The scandal that delayed the study of human origins by decades

For a long time in archaeology, and even in the popular media, there was discussion of a missing link in the archaeological/paleontological fossil record between apes and humans. In 1911, Englishman...
Researchers said in 2010 these animal bones, found in sediment dated about 3.4 million years ago, had been deliberately cut, apparently by a creatures of a pre-human hominin species, Australopithecus.

Pre-human ancestors may have used tools to butcher animals 3.4 million years ago

Some animals, including chimpanzees, crows, elephants, sea otters and dolphins, are known to use tools to extract food from their environment and for other functions. But what really sets people...
Casts of the jaws of Australopithecus deyiremeda

Fossil Find Reveals New Species of Early Human - Origins of Modern Man Gets Crowded

Make room, Lucy! A fossil of a 3.4 million-year-old hominin has been found by researchers who say this could be an entirely new species of early human, previously unknown to history. This new and...

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