Human Evolution

To speak, perchance to think? A long-tailed macaque opens wide in Bali, Indonesia.

What's Really Keeping Monkeys From Speaking Their Minds? Their Minds

When it comes to language, primates have all the right vocal equipment. They just lack the brains

Electronic waste, shown here, is just part of the "technosphere," which comprises the totality of the stuff humans produce.

Humans Have Bogged Down the Earth with 30 Trillion Metric Tons of Stuff, Study Finds

The authors say this is more proof that we are living in an Age of Humans—but not all scientists agree

Human and Neanderthal skulls

Why Humans Don't Have More Neanderthal DNA

The mutations humans acquired from Neanderthals are slowly being purged from the genome overtime

The Warryti Rock Shelter in the Flinders Range

Aboriginal Australians Lived In Country's Interior 10,000 Years Earlier Than Thought

Excavations at a rock shelter in the Flinders Range shows people were there 49,000 years ago, hunting megafauna and developing new tools

Striations on teeth of a Homo habilis fossil 1.8 million years old suggest the earliest evidence in the fossil record for right-handedness. Researchers believe the marks came from using a tool to try to cut food being pulled from the mouth with the left hand.

Two-Million-Year-Old Jaw Has a Lot to Say About the Origins of Human Handedness

Scientists have discovered one of the earliest examples of handedness in an ancient human

Neanderthals May Have Given Us Both Good Genes and Nasty Diseases

DNA analysis shows ancient hominds transmitted genes that may have helped us adapt quicker to Europe and Asia. They also gave us HPV.

Wild capuchins make stone tools, but don't know how to use them.

Wild Monkeys Unintentionally Make Stone Age Tools, But Don't See the Point

Scientists observe a “unique” human behavior in wild animals

Anthropologists have long debated the origins of human violence.

Can Resource Scarcity Really Explain a History of Human Violence?

Data from thousands of California burial sites suggests that a lack of resources causes violence. But that conclusion may be too simplistic

María Esther Heredia Lecaro de Capovilla lived to be 116 years and 347 days old. Here she is at age 115.

Have Humans Hit Their Maximum Lifespan?

Researchers say 115 years old is the ceiling for most of us—with a few outliers able to live a bit longer

Doggonit: Genes That Make Fido Human Friendly Also Linked to Mental Disorders

Dogs’ diversity could make them vulnerable to disorders similar to OCD and autism

Aboriginal rock art at Ubirr in Kakadu National Park.

New DNA Analysis Shows Aboriginal Australians Are the World's Oldest Society

The group was the first to split after a single wave of migration out of Africa took place between 51,000 and 72,000 years ago, study shows

Blind People Can Use Visual Areas of the Brain to Solve Math Problems

The brain is a highly adaptable organ

A Starchy Sixth Sense Could Explain Why Humans Love Carbs

Our tongues may be even more sensitive than once thought

Unnerving Find: Cells That Control Goosebumps and Nipple Erections

A new study documents eight new types of nerve cells, including ones that control sweating and blood flow

Reconstruction of Lucy’s vertical deceleration event, by the authors of the new study.

Did Anthropologists Just Solve the 3-Million-Year-Old Mystery of Lucy’s Death?

Researchers think they've reconstructed the fatal plunge and last terrifying seconds of the hominin's life

A reconstruction of Ötzi the Iceman at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology.

DNA Analysis Reveals What Ötzi the Iceman Wore to His Grave

He rocked surprisingly complex fashion for the Copper Age

An ancient stone tool used to butcher a rhinoceros.

Ancient Hominids Used These 250,000-Year-Old Tools for Butchery

Traces of blood on the prehistoric tools, suggest our ancestors had a much more varied diet than once thought

Thanks, evolution.

The Evolutionary Reason Why Women Orgasm

New research suggests the female orgasm is tied to ovulation, not reproduction

Sperm whales, giant squid and humans all have a mitochondrial "Eve."

No, a Mitochondrial 'Eve' Is Not the First Female in a Species

The latest story about a sperm whale “Eve” shows how people misunderstand the evolutionary term. Fear not: We can clarify

Mammals May Have Dinosaurs to Thank for Their Night Vision

Mammals most likely developed a new pathway to night vision to avoid the jaws of dinos and other daytime predators

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