News tagged with human ancestors

Did increased gene duplication set the stage for human evolution?

(PhysOrg.com) -- Roughly 10 million years ago, a major genetic change occurred in a common ancestor of gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans. Segments of DNA in its genome began to form duplicate copies at a greater ...

Biology /

Feb 11, 2009 | 4.6 / 5 (10) | 8

Pubic hair provides evolutionary home for gorilla lice

There are two species of lice that infest humans: pubic lice, Pthirus pubis, and human head and body lice, Pediculus humanus. A new article in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Biology suggests one explanation for ...

Biology /

Feb 11, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (2) | 0

Famous fossil Lucy scanned at the University of Texas at Austin

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin, in collaboration with the Ethiopian government, have completed the first high-resolution CT scan of the world's most famous fossil, Lucy, an ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

Feb 06, 2009 | 2.9 / 5 (9) | 10

'Hobbit' fossils a new species, anthropologist says

An analysis of an 18,000-year-old fossil, described as the remains of a diminutive humanlike creature, proves that genuine cave-dwelling "hobbits" once flourished in Southeast Asia, according to a Long Island anthropologist ...