Human Evolution

This Tropical Fish Can Be Taught to Recognize Human Faces

New study trained fish to spit at human faces

An artist's reconstruction of what the hobbit may have looked like housed in Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

The “Hobbit” Lineage May Be Much Older Than Previously Thought

A new find hints that the short-statured hominins could have been living in Indonesia over a half a million years earlier than previous estimates

Bison Fossils Offer Clues to Track Human Migration Into the Americas

DNA analysis of bison fossils show that people likely migrated down the Pacific coast and not through the Rocky Mountains

Playtime with baby can help expand a child’s attention span, a new study shows.

Infants Learn to Pay Attention (or Not) From Watching Mom and Dad

Parents who focus on play may help babies develop critical skills that predict future success

Human Diseases May Have Doomed the Neanderthals

Stomach ulcers, herpes, ringworm and other tropical diseases may have all contributed to the Neanderthal demise

Humans and Neanderthals May Have Had Trouble Making Male Babies

The Neanderthal Y chromosome hasn't persisted in modern humans

The remnants of a supernova.

Radioactive Isotopes in The Oceans May Be Remnants of Ancient Supernovae

Cosmic dust may have altered life on Earth as we know it

In a reconstruction, by artist John Gurche, the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum displays what the Hobbit would have looked like in the Hall of Human Origins.

“Hobbits” Disappeared Much Earlier Than Previously Thought

If the tiny hominins ever coexisted with modern humans, the arrangement apparently didn't last long

The Right Body Language Can Boost Odds of Online Dating Success

Potential partners size you up in seconds, and the way you sit or stand matters

What a Tiny Fish Can Tell Us About How Humans Stood Upright

What is the root of why our ancestors gained the power to walk on two feet and chimpanzees didn't?

The museum has generated controversy over gentrification of Rio de Janeiro ahead of the 2016 Olympics.

Imagining an Alarming Future at Brazil's Museum of Tomorrow

The ambitious museum looks at where humankind is headed—and asks how they'll live in a post-climate-change world

The fossil skull of the human ancestor Australopithecus africanus, which had more robust teeth and jaws than modern humans.

A Taste for Raw Meat May Have Helped Shape Human Evolution

Stone tools might have let our ancestors more easily chew and digest meat, which in turn may have changed our teeth and jaws

Comparison of a Neanderthal skull (left) and a human skull (right) with a 55,000-year-old fragment from a possible human-Neanderthal hybrid.

Humans May Have Had Romantic Rendezvous With Neanderthals 100,000 Years Ago

New DNA evidence suggests that ancient humans got busy with our stocky Neanderthal cousins much earlier than previously thought

A Chin-Stroking Mystery: Why Are Humans the Only Animals With Chins?

It's an evolutionary conundrum, and scientists are still divided over the answer

Cats May Have Been Domesticated Twice

But only one ended up as the house cat

This ancient skull has a terrible tale to tell.

An Ancient, Brutal Massacre May Be the Earliest Evidence of War

Even nomadic hunter-gatherers engaged in deliberate mass killings 10,000 years ago

Stone-age cave paintings from the Chauvet cave.

Chauvet Cave Paintings Could Depict a 37,000-Year-Old Volcanic Eruption

Mysterious paintings in the “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” led researchers to new evidence of ancient volcanic activity

Wooly mammoths would have been challenging but desirable prey for early humans.

Humans Were in the Arctic 10,000 Years Earlier Than Thought

Distinctive cut marks on a Siberian mammoth represent the first known evidence of human hunters this far north

Thank Neanderthals for Your Immune System

Genes inherited from our ancient cousins may have helped fight off disease

A researcher examines the mummified hand of Ötzi the Iceman.

The Iceman's Stomach Bugs Offer Clues to Ancient Human Migration

DNA analysis of the mummy's pathogens may reveal when and how Ötzi's people came to the Italian Alps

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