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Evolution & Human Origins

We bring you all the latest news and discoveries relating to human origins and evolution. The more fossils that are unearthed, the more researchers admit that there is much that is still unknown about the evolution of humans.

This undated photo provided by Ludovic Slimak shows scientists working at the entrance of the Mandrin cave, near Montelimar, southern France where the oldest modern human remains in Europe were found.	Source: Ludovic Slimak / CNRS)

French Rock Shelter Changes Story of Neanderthals and Sapiens In Europe

Archaeologists have discovered evidence of Europe’s first Homo sapiens in Grotte Mandarin rock shelter in southern France. The considerable range of evidence found in the rock shelter cave at Grotte...
European traits vary due to historic genetic influences. Here a blue-eyed, blonde-haired woman, typical traits of Estonia where the study is based. 	Source: Jeremy Francis / Adobe Stock

How Mixed Ancestries Shaped European Traits

An eye-opening new study appearing in the journal Current Biology delves into the extensive interactions between different ethnic groups that shaped the genomes of contemporary Europeans. The...
This arc of five hominid skulls has been used for over 100 years to prove that natural selection theory is totally random and accidental, but a new study shows this to be false for a malaria mutation.	Source: Smithsonian

Darwin’s Natural Selection Theory May Not Be True, Gene Study Says

Researchers from Ghana and the University of Haifa, Israel, have published a breakthrough study that questions randomness in Darwin’s natural selection theory, in the Genome Research journal which...
Woman enjoying the scent of a flower. Source: Syda Productions / Adobe Stock

Like What You Smell? It’s All In Your Genes

By focusing on a handful of our smell receptor types, a team of scientists has demonstrated how some people are more sensitive to some smells than others. And, they have answered why we all perceive...
A top (a), rear (b), bottom (c) and front (d) view of the vertebra discovered at 'Ubeidiya	Source:  Dr. Alon Barash, Bar-Ilan University

1.5-Million-Year-Old Human Remains Point to Two Waves Out of Africa

Human bones uncovered in Israel have been dated to 1.5 million years with repercussions for the Out of Africa theory. What they tell researchers is that our ancient relatives left Africa in two waves...
Reconstruction of ancient human cave dweller in the Lazaret Cave, France, showing the hearth at the side of the cave. 	Source: De Lumley, M. A. / Public Domain

Ancient Cave Dwellers Managed Fire to Reduce Smoke Exposure

An enlightening new study conducted by prehistoric archaeologists from Tel Aviv University in Israel has revealed how early humans cave dwellers who lived 150,000 to 170,000 years ago managed the...
These 1.5 million year old fossil bones with cut marks from Koobi Fora, Kenya were used in the latest study to understand the evolution of the human meat diet, which revealed that the story is more complex and less meaty.	Source: Briana Pobiner / GWU

Study Dispels Human Meat Diet Hypothesis, Changing Evolutionary Story

In developed societies across the world today, many are converting to vegetarianism or veganism, following diets that completely exclude meat or animal products from their consumption habits. Over...
The Omo Kibish formation where the fossils of the oldest Homo sapiens were discovered. Inset: Reproduction of an Omo I skull.	Source: Céline Vidal 2018/ Nature (Inset: CC BY-SA 4.0)

Omo Kibish Homo Sapiens Just Got Older!

The debate around human evolution and the Out-of-Africa theory has received a fresh update, this time from southwestern Ethiopia’s Omo Kibish region. A study in Nature has pointed out how the Homo...
The Top 10 Human Evolution Discoveries in 2021. Source: Ancient Origins

The Top 10 Revelations in Human Evolution in 2021

The year 2021 was filled with all kinds of human evolution discoveries and scientific progress. From the 250,000-year-old skeletal remains of a Homo naledi child in South Africa, to the smiley face...
Was the ever-evolving technological revolution dependent on single-minded genius? Source: Kovalenko I / Adobe Stock

Charting the Role of Prehistoric Genius in Technological Revolution

An English scientist has charted the spread of ancient survival technologies. His awe-inspiring maps reveal how individual ancient geniuses innovated in one place, and how these new ideas spread...
Bronze age man. Source: Gorodenkoff / Adobe Stock

Ancestry Shock: Britain Got Half its Genes from France!

A new DNA analysis of 793 Bronze Age skeletons from all over Britain and mainland Europe has revealed genetic secrets about a mass human migration that occurred around 3,000 years ago. Not Just...
Representational image showing dinosaur embryo in an egg. Source: KtD / Adobe Stock

Incredibly Preserved Dinosaur Embryo Found Inside 72-Million-Year-Old Egg

An exquisitely preserved dinosaur embryo was discovered inside a fossilized egg in China dating back 72 million years and is one of the most complete dinosaur embryos ever found. The amazing...
Now we know that Neanderthals, like this one who seems to kill wildlife and burn forests, altered ecosystems. More and more the differences between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens are disappearing or getting blurred. 		Source: regis allouet / Adobe Stock

“German” Neanderthals Altered Ecosystem 125,000 Years Ago, Study Shows

Archaeologists from Leiden University in the Netherlands have released the results of a study that proves Neanderthals altered ecosystems in significant ways. The evidence was found in a spot...
snake venom Source: Mark Kostich / Adobe Stock

How Prehistoric Primates Survived Deadly Snake Venom

The story of human evolution is one peppered with the acquisition of a variety of adaptive traits that have been acquired over thousands of years. While we take many of these for granted today, each...
We have remains of Tibetan Plateau Denisovans, who lived for long periods in this landscape. But now we know that they passed their high-altitude adaptability genes on to Tibetans and other peoples that ultimately settled in the Himalayas.						Source: zah108 / Adobe Stock

Tibetan Plateau Denisovans Gave Modern Tibetans Altitude Superpowers

Little is known about our extinct archaic hominin cousins, the Denisovans, who populated Asia during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic, due to limited DNA fragments and evidence. This makes...
Blaine Maley, from the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, works alongside Prabhat, Fannin, and Montgomery Fellow Charles Musiba at site A in Laetoli where the archaic footprints were found. 	Source: Shirley Rubin / Trustees of Dartmouth College

Ancient ‘Bear’ Footprints in Laetoli Tanzania Belonged to Human Ancestor

While exploring the Laetoli fossil site in the foothills of northern Tanzania in 1978, a team of anthropologists led by the renowned Mary Leakey discovered the oldest footprints of a human ancestor...
Denisovan fossils look a bit unremarkable, but these bone fragments, mostly from animals, were perfect for Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectroscopy and DNA analysis, which were used in the recent study.		Source: Samantha Brown / Nature Ecology & Evolution

New Denisovan Fossils From Siberian Cave Are The Oldest Ever Found

Researchers from the Max Planck Society and the Universities of Vienna and Tübingen have found new fossilized human-like remains mixed in an assortment of bone samples taken from Siberia’s famed...
A Neanderthal boy looking at his reflection not knowing that Neanderthal development was faster than that of modern humans. Some kids have it easier!		Source: EmotionPhoto / Adobe Stock

Neanderthal Child Development Was Faster than Humans, Study Reveals

Neanderthal development was faster than the maturation process in modern humans according to the latest study. This means Neanderthal children were able to reach physical maturity at earlier ages,...
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,...

Early Hominins Competed with Saber-Toothed Cats 2 Million Years Ago

Homo erectus , literally upright man, is an extinct species of archaic human from the Pleistocene, first occurring 2 million years ago, and is widely identified as the first recognizable members of...
The skull of the Homo naledi child named Leti found in the lowest levels of South Africa’s Rising Star cave system.		Source: University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

Skeleton of an Archaic Homo naledi Child Found in Rising Star Cave

A team of South African and American archaeologists exploring the Rising Star cave system in central South Africa discovered something that seems quite anomalous. In the deepest, darkest recesses of...
Artist rendering of the so-called “new human ancestor”, Homo bodoensis. Source: Ettore Mazza / University of Winnipeg

Homo bodoensis: Has A New Human Ancestor Just Been Discovered?

A team of scientists claim that they have identified a new “ancient human ancestor” in Africa, which is causing quite a stir. The so-called Homo bodoensis lived in Africa during the Middle...
The human brain has three parts and for millions of years it grew in size but 3,000 years ago it began to get smaller! 						Source: alionaprof / Adobe Stock

Three Thousand Years Ago Human Brain Size Decreased, Says Study

Through the process of greater efficiency, the human brain size began to shrink about 3,000 years ago and this is a huge new revelation in human evolution. The latest research study conclusions...
The rock slab at Trachilos, Crete, where the 6-million-year-old hominin Crete footprints were first discovered in 2002.	Source: Olaf Tausch / CC BY 3.0

Cretan Footprints Challenge Darwin’s Out of Africa Theory, Says Study

The evolution of human bipedalism is supposed to be 4 million years old, beginning with primates, which caused the separation of the first hominids from the rest of the four-legged apes. Walking on...

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