Human Evolution

Stone tools show humans in India survived the cataclysmic Toba eruption 74,000 years ago

The plume of the eruption punched more than 30 km into the sky and blanketed much of India and Africa in a layer of ash.

Adaption of microbes living in our gut helped early humans survive in new areas

Our ancestor's microbes made it possible to digest, detoxify the foods they were eating in the new areas they went too.

Fossil of prehistoric ape from Germany rewrites the history of bipedalism in humans

Danuvius could walk upright on two legs and clamber through trees with all four limbs, making them the oldest-known example of upright walking in apes.

Early adult male skull found in Ethiopia alters understanding of human evolution

There was a gap between older human species and the newer ones, this skull bridges that gap.

Tiny 20-million-year-old monkey skull points to primate brain areas evolving separately

The brain size of primates, thought to have increased progressively, seems to have followed a more roundabout path.

Why we dance: Studies increasingly indicate the reason is closely tied in with human evolution

Time and again, researchers are discovering the vital role played by bodily movement (such as in dance) not only in the evolution of the human species, but in the present-day social and psychological development of healthy individuals.

Infertility in young women may have driven the Neanderthals to their extinction

Fossils are scarce and the answer to why the women started having fewer babies is still up for debate.

We've pictured Neanderthals wrong — they walked upright just like we Sapiens do

Fresh clues to life and times of Denisovans, a little-known band of ancient humans

The study offers a robust timeline for fossils, recovered DNA & environment the Denisovans lived in.

Prehistoric fossil of woman shows parentage from two extinct species of humans

The new study is the first to identify a first-generation child of Neanderthal and Denisovan parents