Anthropology News

Denisovans were probably dark-skinned, unlike the pale Neandertals. The picture shows a Neanderthal man. Image credit: Mauro Cutrona.

Denisovan DNA Found in Modern-Day Melanesians

Mar 18, 2016 by News Staff

Residents of the Pacific islands of Melanesia share fragments of genetic code with two early human species: Denisovans, whose remains were found in Siberia,...

Sima de los Huesos hominins lived in what is now Spain about 400,000 years ago. Image credit: © Kennis & Kennis / Madrid Scientific Films.

Sima de los Huesos Hominins Were Actually Early Neanderthals, Say Anthropologists

Mar 15, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

The first analysis of nuclear DNA from Sima de los Huesos hominins, conducted by Dr. Matthias Meyer of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology...

Reconstruction of a Neanderthal. Image credit: Neanderthal Museum.

Neanderthals Ate Rhinos, Woolly Mammoths, and Plants

Mar 15, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Neanderthals lived mainly on mammoth and rhino meat, as well as some plant food, says a team of researchers led by Prof. Hervé Bocherens from the University...

An artist’s rendition of an early human habitat in Tanzania 1.8 million years ago. Image credit: M. Lopez-Herrera / Enrique Baquedano / Olduvai Paleoanthropology and Paleoecology Project.

Researchers Reconstruct African Landscape Where Early Humans Lived 1.8M Years Ago

Mar 10, 2016 by News Staff

Life in what is now Tanzania was difficult and dangerous 1.8 million years ago, according to a team of scientists from the United States, Switzerland and...

Scientists: Neanderthals Mated with Humans 100,000 Years Ago

Feb 17, 2016 by News Staff

A multinational group of researchers has found strong genetic evidence of an interbreeding event between Neanderthals and anatomically modern Homo sapiens...

The fossilized skull of Australopithecus sediba specimen MH1 and a finite element model of its cranium depicting strains experienced during a simulated bite on its premolars: ‘warm’ colors indicate regions of high strain, ‘cool’ colors indicate regions of low strain. Image credit: Brett Eloff / Lee Berger / University of the Witwatersrand.

Study: Australopithecus sediba Didn’t Eat Hard Foods

Feb 8, 2016 by News Staff

According to a study published today in the journal Nature Communications, a recently discovered species of early human ancestor called Australopithecus...

The study supports a single and rapid dispersal of all non-Africans populations around 50,000 years ago not only across Asia but also into Europe. Image credit: Annette Guenzel / Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.

Pre-Neolithic DNA Suggests Major Late Glacial Population Turnover in Europe

Feb 5, 2016 by News Staff

DNA evidence lifted from the bones and teeth of hunter-gatherers who lived in Europe from 35,000 years ago (Late Pleistocene) to 7,000 years ago (early...

Neanderthal. Image credit: Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London.

Neanderthal DNA Gave Humans Allergies, Immunity Boost

Jan 8, 2016 by News Staff

Interbreeding of anatomically modern Homo sapiens with Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) around 40,000 years ago may have left humans with gene variants...

Reconstruction of Ballynahatty Neolithic skull by Elizabeth Black. Her genes tell us she had black hair and brown eyes. Image credit: Barrie Hartwell.

Ancient Genomes from Ireland Sequenced for the First Time

Dec 30, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

A large team of researchers reported this week that it had sequenced the whole genomes of four prehistoric Irish individuals: a Neolithic woman (3343 –...

Artist’s reconstruction of a Red Deer Cave man. Image credit: Peter Schouten.

14,000-Year-Old Bone Found in Red Deer Cave Points to Archaic Human Species

Dec 18, 2015 by News Staff

An archaic species of the genus Homo from China, thought to be long extinct, likely survived until as recently as 14,000 years ago, a thigh bone found...

Hunter-gatherers. Image credit: T.P.S. Dave.

Scientists Discover New Strand of European Hunter-Gatherer Ancestry

Nov 17, 2015 by News Staff

An international group of researchers has sequenced the genomes of Late Upper Paleolithic (13,300 years old) and Mesolithic (9,700 years old) males from...

A group of Neanderthals in a cave. Image credit: Tyler B. Tretsven.

Anatomically Modern Homo sapiens Arrived in Southern Asia at least 80,000 Years Ago

Oct 15, 2015 by News Staff

A discovery of 47 human teeth from the Fuyan Cave in the Chinese province of Hunan indicates that anatomically modern Homo sapiens were present in southern...

A reconstruction of Homo naledi’s head by paleoartist John Gurche, who spent some 700 hours recreating the head from bone scans. The find was announced by the University of the Witwatersrand, the National Geographic Society and the South African National Research Foundation and published in the journal eLife. Image credit: John Gurche / Mark Thiessen / National Geographic.

Studies Suggest Homo naledi Walked Upright and Climbed Trees

Oct 7, 2015 by News Staff

Homo naledi – an extinct species of hominin whose fossil skeletons were discovered in a South African cave and introduced to the world last month...

Homo naledi: New Species of Human Ancestor Discovered

Sep 10, 2015 by News Staff

A large, multinational team of scientists has discovered a previously-unknown species of extinct hominin in the Rising Star cave, Cradle of Humankind,...

Paranthropus boisei. Image credit: © Roman Yevseyev.

Study: Last Common Ancestor of Humans and Apes Looked Like Gorilla or Chimpanzee

Sep 9, 2015 by News Staff

Humans split from our closest African ape relatives in the genus Pan around six to seven million years ago. We have features that clearly link us with...

Illustration of every day life in the El Portalon cave during the Neolithic and Copper Age. Image credit: Maria de la Fuente.

Ancient DNA Links Early Farmers to Basques

Sep 8, 2015 by News Staff

The Basques are not direct descendants from hunter-gatherers of 10,000 years ago; instead, they have more recent genetic links to early Iberian farmers,...

Human Body Has Gone through Four Main Stages of Evolution, Scientists Say

Sep 1, 2015 by News Staff

The evolution of the human body’s size and shape has gone through four stages, says an international group of anthropologists from the United States,...

This is an artist's reconstruction of female Homo from Dmanisi, Georgia. Image credit: Elisabeth Daynes, via tabula.ge.

1.8-Million-Year-Old Modern Human-Like Hand Bone Found in Tanzania

Aug 19, 2015 by News Staff

A fossil specimen unearthed at the Philip Tobias Korongo site, Olduvai Gorge, could be the oldest ‘anatomically modern’ human hand bone, says an international...

Earth as seen on July 6, 2015 from a distance of one million miles by NASA’s EPIC camera on the DSCOVR satellite. Image credit: NOAA / NASA / U.S. Air Force.

Earth’s Population Will Reach 11 Billion by 2100, United Nations Experts Say

Aug 11, 2015 by News Staff

The world’s population, now 7.3 billion, is expected to reach the 11 billion mark by 2100, according to revised population projections released yesterday...