human evolution

A study sheds light on the tiny genes that have evolved in human genomes since we split from our mammalian ancestors.

A new study points to repercussions of the Medieval pandemic for the health of modern humans.

Viral remnants make up 8 percent of the human genome, and a new study finds that these sequences are still active in healthy people.

Genetic material pilfered from mitochondria may seal cracks in our genetic code, a study suggests.

The geneticist’s accomplishments include sequencing Neanderthal DNA and leading the project that identified a new species of hominin, the Denisovans.

3D modeling of 7 million-year-old hominin bones hints at bipedality occurring earlier than previously thought.

The paleoanthropologist was widely celebrated for his unmatched ability to find and identify fossils.

The simple act of chewing gum can raise the body’s metabolic rate by as much as 15 percent, a study finds.

Coppens, alongside Donald Johanson and Maurice Taieb, found a 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis fossil in the 1970s.

A newer dating technique using cosmogenic isotopes finds Australopithecus remains from the Sterkfontein caves to be about 1 million years older than previous estimates, potentially changing scientists’ understanding of humanity’s origins.

The new fossil from Laos helps answer the question of how some people from Oceania carry DNA from the ancient hominin.

New techniques have shown that people reached the New World far earlier than the long-standing estimate of 13,000 years ago, but scientists still debate exactly when humans arrived on the continent—and how.

Diverse lines of evidence point to humans’ presence in the New World long before the dawn of Clovis culture. But rewriting this chapter of human history raises many questions about how these early people came to inhabit these continents.

In Chapter 7, “More Remarkable Encounters,” author Gregory Forth relays a story told to him by Tegu, a Lio man who says he found and disposed of a dead organism that might fit the description of an "ape-man."

Do members of Homo floresiensis still inhabit the Indonesian island where their fossils helped identify a new human species fewer than 20 years ago?

The field of ancient DNA, which combines archaeology and anthropology with cutting-edge genetics, is requiring scientists to have frank conversations about when research is justified and who it benefits.

The Kenyan fossil finder is known for his discoveries of various Stone Age artifacts and ancient human skulls and skeletons.

Analysis of DNA from remains found in an Indonesian cave provides new insight into human movements among the islands between East Asia and Australia.

Taieb recognized the potential importance of the Hadar Formation, where remains of the hominin Australopithecus afarensis were found only a few years later.