A large comparative study of primate teeth shows that grooves once linked to ancient human tooth-picking can form naturally, while some common modern dental problems appear uniquely human.

Deep inside a cave system in Europe, a 60,000‑year‑old assemblage of human remains and artifacts has forced researchers to ...

Two of the traits that set modern humans apart from non-human primates are taller stature and a higher basal metabolic rate. Researchers have identified a genetic variant that contributed to the ...

Ancient bones discovered in a cave in Casablanca, Morocco, could fill in some of the blanks about human evolution. The cave, known as Grotte à Hominidés, contains assemblages of jawbones, teeth, and ...

Long before humans became master hunters, our ancestors were already thriving by making the most of what nature left behind. New research suggests that scavenging animal carcasses wasn’t a desperate ...

Life on Earth began in a way that still boggles the mind. Around 4.5 billion years ago, a chemical process called abiogenesis occurred, where life emerged from non-life. Imagine a hot, watery mix of ...

The Moroccan fossils now provide tangible evidence from this mysterious transitional period. What makes these fossils particularly significant is the precision with which they can be dated. The ...

The study of human evolution and comparative anatomy bridges palaeontology, biomechanics and evolutionary biology to elucidate the origins of our unique anatomy. Recent analyses have shed new light on ...

Our species, Homo sapiens, has been evolving for more than 300,000 years, but the story of human origins starts much earlier.

Outlining the problem / P. A. Mellars, M. J. Aitken and C. B. Stringer -- Uranium-series dating and the origin of modern man / Henry P. Schwarcz -- Luminescence dating relevant to human origins / M. J ...