News
Placenta and hormone levels in the womb may have been key driver in human evolution, say researchers
9+ mon, 3+ week ago (464+ words) The placenta and the hormones it produces may have played a crucial role in the evolution of the human brain, while also leading to the behavioural traits that have made human societies able to thrive and expand, according to a…...
How ancient attraction shaped the human genome
1+ mon, 2+ week ago (546+ words) Researchers led by geneticist Sarah Tishkoff's found that prehistoric mating preferences is a likely explanation for why modern humans have small amounts of Neanderthal genetic elements on their X chromosomes, challenging the ideas of evolution Now, Tishkoff and her team…...
Early Neanderthal-Human interbreeding was strongly sex biased
1+ mon, 2+ week ago (628+ words) When Neanderthals and ancient modern humans interbred, the pairings were mostly between male Neanderthals and female humans. This finding helps explain why Neanderthal ancestry present in most humans is unevenly distributed. Anatomically modern humans carry low levels of Neanderthal ancestry,…...
A new fossil face sheds light on early migrations of ancient human ancestor
3+ mon, 4+ week ago (436+ words) image: Map showing potential migration routes of the human ancestor, Homo erectus, in Africa, Europe and Asia during the early Pleistocene. Key fossils of Homo erectus and the earlier Homo habilis species are shown, including the new face reconstruction of…...
3 D reconstruction of the skeleton
5+ day, 9+ hour ago (30+ words) (IMAGE)Eurek Alert! 3 D reconstruction of the skeleton More on this News Release Ancient survivor reveals its secret: First-ever egg of a mammal ancestor discovered...
Tracking the footsteps of West Africa's prehistoric metalworkers
2+ week, 10+ hour ago (170+ words) The discovery of a 2, 400-year-old metalworking workshop in Senegal provides new insights into the history of iron production in Africa. The workshop consists of a large heap containing around a hundred tons of slag, a semicircular arrangement of about thirty…...
Masripithecus: A new Miocene ape from Egypt sheds light on the origins of modern apes
2+ week, 5+ day ago (65+ words) (IMAGE)Eurek Alert! Reconstruction of Masripithecus moghraensis by Mauricio Ant'n. Copyrights belong to Professor Hesham Sallam EMBARGOED UNTIL 3/26/2026 "2 pm (ET) / 8pm (Cairo) / 6pm (UTC) / 11am (Los Angeles) More on this News Release Masripithecus: A new Miocene ape from Egypt sheds light on the…...
Samuel S. Urlacher, Ph. D. , associate professor of anthropology
2+ week, 5+ day ago (34+ words) (IMAGE)Eurek Alert! Samuel S. Urlacher, Ph. D. , associate professor of anthropology More on this News Release AAAS honors two Baylor University researchers as lifetime fellows...
Neanderthals may have used birch tar for its anti-bacterial properties
3+ week, 6+ day ago (218+ words) Experiments confirm anti-biotic properties of birch bark extract Neanderthals probably used birch tar for multiple functions, including treating their wounds, according to a study published March 18, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS One by a team of researchers led by Tjaark…...
The mixed Iberian, Mediterranean and North African ancestry of an individual buried in the Menga dolmen has been revealed
1+ mon, 1+ day ago (506+ words) Eurek Alert! Exhumations carried out during the investigation Credit: Ver'nica Navarrete and Luis Efr'n Fern'ndez The ATLAS Research Group at the University of Seville (HUM-694) is collaborating in an archaeogenomic study carried out by the UK universities of Huddersfield and…...