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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.

Underwater Kronan excavations that were one of the sources of ancient Scandinavian genes in the study. Source: Lars Einarsson/Cell Press

Irresistible Vikings? Charting Sex Bias and Gene Flows Into Ancient Scandinavia

A team of genetic scientists from Sweden turned their scanners on Viking DNA samples. They have now charted the “genetic flow” of ancient Scandinavia showing that incomers genetics didn’t fare so...
Metatarsal bones of a cave bear discovered to bear cut marks. Source: ©Volker Minkus/ University of Tübingen

Fur Coats from 300,000 Years Ago: Earliest Evidence of Bear Skin Use

Fur coats aren’t just a product of the modern industrial period, but now are seen to have a tradition stretching back some 300,000 years ago, albeit in a different setting altogether. People have...
By observing chimpanzees in Tanzania, researchers concluded that humans evolved to being bipedal while they still lived in trees.       Source: Left; Mari_art / Adobe Stock; Right; Sam D'Cruz / Adobe Stock

The Evolutionary Leap to Bipedalism Took Place in Trees

Conventional wisdom says that ancient humans made the transition from walking on four legs to walking on two because they needed to travel more efficiently across open savanna land in Africa. But...
A large axe-grinding stone near Balfron in Scotland is where Neolithic toolmakers sharpened stone axes thousands of years ago. Source: Dr. Murray Cook

Ancient Giant Axe-Grinding Stone Unearthed in Scotland

Archaeologists and volunteers examining a 4,500-year-old Neolithic site near Balfron, beside Stirling in Central Scotland, recently rolled back turf and revealed a giant slab of sandstone. Marked...
Plesiosaur skull fossil found with the complete body skeleton in Western Queensland.	Source: © Queensland Museum

Amateur Fossil Hunters Find a ‘Rosetta Stone’ for Paleontology

Paleontologists affiliated with the Queensland Museum Network in Australia have unearthed both the head and body of a 100-million-year-old marine reptile known as an elasmosaur. This astonishing...
Reconstruction of Kap København formation two-million years ago in a time where the temperature was significantly warmer than northernmost Greenland today.          Source: Beth Zaiken / Nature

Ancient Environmental DNA Reveals Thriving 2-Million-Year-Old Life on Greenland

A “breakthrough” has been made in understanding the history of our planet. Studying ancient environmental DNA a team of researchers has now tracked and mapped the evolution of biological communities...
Researchers have found evidence in South Africa that Homo naledi used controlled fire within caves. Insert: Homo naledi facial reconstruction.  Source: Brilliant Eye / Adobe Stock, Insert; Cicero Moraes (Arc-Team) et alii, CC BY 4.0

Shocking Evidence Homo Naledi Used Fire 230,000 Years Ago

Ground-breaking new evidence has emerged from South Africa that suggests that Homo sapiens may not have been the first species to use controlled fire. Fossil remains of Homo naledi were discovered in...
Neanderthal or Homo Sapiens family cooking animal meat over a fire.	Source: Gorodenkoff/Adobe Stock

Prehistoric Neanderthal and Human Chefs Cooked Up Tasty Dishes

Neanderthals and ancient humans consumed a surprisingly complex diet writes a study in Antiquity . Their cooks conceived and prepared multi-ingredient recipes that included a shockingly diverse...
Part of the tibia of an early human believed to be Homo heidelbergensis discovered at the Boxgrove archaeological site in West Sussex. Source: © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London

Puzzling Identity of the Most Ancient Humans in England

In the latest string of research and studies shedding light on the incredibly complex history of human evolution, fossils found in Boxgrove, England have been compared to fossils found at Sima de los...
A small fish being cooked over a fire. Evidence of cooking fish has been found from 780,000 years ago.	Source: Nicolas VINCENT/Adobe Stock

Cooking Timeline Just Got Burned: Hominins Were Cooking 780,000 Years Ago

Researchers in Israel have found evidence of cooking fish dated to roughly 780,000 years ago. This pushes back the beginnings of humans being able to control fire and cook their food over 600,000...
Image depicting South American migration patterns. Source: Florida Atlantic University

DNA Analysis Reveals Surprising South American Migration Patterns

A new study based on cutting-edge genetic analysis has revealed startling new information about South American migration patterns. By carrying out a complete genetic sequencing of DNA provided by...
Ancient DNA from human remains like this representation were used in the study. Source: Erin Cadigan / Adobe Stock

Ancient DNA Reveals Hitherto Unknown Aspects of Human Evolution

Ancient DNA from human remains that are around 45,000 years old has given scientists new insights into human evolution. It has enabled them to conclude that human populations fairly quickly adopted...
People with the Black Death depicted in 15th century manuscript. Source: Public domain

Survivors of Black Death Passed on Genetic Risk to Autoimmune Disease

We may have a lot more to thank (or curse) our ancestors for than we realize. When the Black Death or the bubonic plague swept through Europe 700 years ago, it literally killed 50% of the population...
Neanderthal Diet Was Carnivorous, Shows Study of Tooth Enamel

Neanderthal Diet Was Carnivorous, Shows Study of Tooth Enamel

A team of scientists from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), in collaboration with colleagues from several scientific institutions in Germany, have just published a new study...
A new study shows that humans and Neanderthals lived together in Europe for 2000 years. Source: athree23 / CC BY-SA 4.0

Modern Humans and Neanderthals Lived Together in Europe for 2,000 Years!

When Homo sapiens first arrived on the European continent about 42,500 years ago, the Neanderthals were still living there, and would remain there for another 1,400 to 2,900 years before finally...
Footprint beds at Formby Point. Source: Jamie Woodward / University of Manchester

Footprints Exposed on a Merseyside Beach Reveal Irish Sea “Serengeti”

Hundreds of perfectly preserved human footprints, dated between 9,000 and 1,000 years old, have been exposed on Merseyside’s Formby Beach on the Irish Sea. And that’s not all. The ancient footprints...
New study suggests primordial life originated in sea spray. Source: Rysak / Adobe Stock

Chemists Suggest Primordial Life Began in Sea Spray

A team of chemists from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana have discovered a mechanism that could explain how the fundamental ingredients of living cells were first created in the...
The fossil of a Homo erectus skull found in recent national civilization origin-tracing program. Source: Courtesy of the National Cultural Heritage Administration

Million-Year-Old Human Skull Found in China Reveals Evolutionary Secrets

Archaeologists in China have uncovered a human skull that is almost unimaginably old. While performing excavations in the central province of Hubei, a team of researchers affiliated with the Hubei...
Using the latest technology, the researchers were able to examine the Gogo fish fossil (show here) and identify its 380-million-year-old, 3D preserved fossilized heart. (Yasmine Phillips, Curtin University / Western Australia Museum)

Oldest Fossilized Heart Ever Found is 380 Million Years Old

"A mind-boggling, jaw-dropping” 380-million-year-old fossilized heart has been discovered in Western Australia, preserved inside a now extinct prehistoric fish known as the Gogo. The Gogo Station...
This lower jaw tooth of an early human species, from roughly 1.8 million years ago, discovered at the Orozmani site in southern Georgia, provides more evidence that the first humans left Africa and wandered northeast. Source: Municipality Of Dmanisi

Early Humans Out of Africa: 1.8 Myo Tooth Found in Orozmani, Georgia!

It was only a year ago, when the oldest hominin site outside Africa was discovered near the village of Kvemo Orozmani in southern Georgia. The 2021 Georgia discovery included stone tools and animal...
Neanderthal and modern human skulls. Source: Bruder / Adobe Stock

Big Difference Between Neanderthal and Modern Human Brains Discovered

Neanderthals, a subspecies of archaic humans who split from modern humans sometime between 300,000 and 80,000 years ago, have been the subject of a new study. This study has revealed the presence of...
Researchers Find Evidence that Teeth Evolved from The Scales of Sharks

Researchers Find Evidence that Teeth Evolved from The Scales of Sharks

When it comes to determining the origin of various body parts and systems in mammals and other creatures, evolutionary scientists are confronted with an endless number of complex puzzles to solve...
The Neolithic Revolution was characterized by permanent human settlements and the invention of agriculture starting about 10,000 years ago. This is what the early Neolithic homes looked like in Pre-Pottery Neolithic B housing in Aşıklı Höyük, modern Turkey.                     Source: Sarah Murray / CC BY-SA 2.0

Ancient DNA Reveals Anatolian Neolithic Revolution Migration Patterns

Beginning approximately 12,000 years ago, the Neolithic Revolution sparked one of the most profound and lasting changes in human history. Humanity’s adoption of agriculture as an alternative to the...
Representation of the modes of locomotion practiced by Sahelanthropus in Chad, Africa 7 million years ago, which is one million years earlier than current biped origins. (Sabine Riffaut, Guillaume Daver, Franck Guy / PALEVOPRIM / CNRS – University of Poitiers)

Human Ancestors Were Already Bipeds 7-Million Years Ago

It took millions of years for modern humans to evolve from apelike creatures to today’s Homo sapiens, ie. you and me. At various points along this long and arduous journey certain important...

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