News tagged with human ancestors

Related topics: human evolution , chimpanzees , fossil

Human ancestors used fire one million years ago, archaeologist find

An international team led by the University of Toronto and Hebrew University has identified the earliest known evidence of the use of fire by human ancestors. Microscopic traces of wood ash, alongside animal ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Apr 02, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (43) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Rock analysis suggests France cave art is 'oldest'

Experts have long debated whether the sophisticated animal drawings in a famous French cave are indeed the oldest of their kind in the world, and a study out Monday suggests that yes, they are.

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created May 07, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (17) | comments 3

New study of hunter-gatherers suggests social networks sparked evolution of cooperation

Ancient humans may not have had the luxury of updating their Facebook status, but social networks were nevertheless an essential component of their lives, a new study suggests.

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Jan 25, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

'Lucy' lived among close cousins: Discovery of foot fossil confirms two human ancestor species co-existed

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new fossil discovery from Eastern Africa called the Burtele foot indicates Australopithecus afarensis, an early relative of modern humans, may not have been the only hominin to walk the pl ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Mar 28, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (11) | comments 78 | with audio podcast

'Game-changer' in evolution from S. African bones

An analysis of 2 million-year-old bones found in South Africa offers the most powerful case so far in identifying the transitional figure that came before modern humans - findings some are calling a potential ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Sep 08, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (25) | comments 13

Biological anthropologists question claims for human ancestry

"Too simple" and "not so fast" suggest biological anthropologists from the George Washington University and New York University about the origins of human ancestry. In the upcoming issue of the journal Nature, the anthro ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Feb 16, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (17) | comments 20 | with audio podcast

On their own 2 feet: 3.2 million-year-old fossil foot bone supports humanlike bipedalism in Lucy's species

A fossilized foot bone recovered from Hadar, Ethiopia, shows that by 3.2 million years ago human ancestors walked bipedally with a modern human-like foot, a report that appears Feb. 11 in the journal Science, conclu ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Feb 10, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (14) | comments 13 | with audio podcast

Neanderthals may have interbred with humans twice

(PhysOrg.com) -- Extinct human species such as Neanderthals may still be with us, at least in our DNA, and this may help explain why they disappeared from the fossil record around 30,000 years ago.

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Apr 21, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (48) | comments 22 | with audio podcast report

Archaeologists discover oldest-known fiber materials used by early humans

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of archaeologists and paleobiologists has discovered flax fibers that are more than 34,000 years old, making them the oldest fibers known to have been used by humans. The fibers, discovered ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Sep 10, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (11) | comments 3

Dormant ancient chimp virus revived

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers in New York have identified the receptor of an ancient chimpanzee retrovirus that has been dormant for at least a million years. Now the scientists have resurrected a key part of the virus to ...

Medicine & Health / Medical research

created Oct 26, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (13) | comments 5 | with audio podcast report

New species of early hominid found

(PhysOrg.com) -- A previously unknown species of hominid that lived in what is now South Africa around two million years ago has been found in the form of a fossilized skeleton of a child and several bones ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Apr 06, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (23) | comments 10 | with audio podcast report

Did climate change shape human evolution?

(Phys.org) -- As human ancestors rose on two feet in Africa and began their migrations across the world, the climate around them got warmer, and colder, wetter and drier. The plants and animals they competed ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Apr 24, 2012 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (4) | comments 17 | with audio podcast

Modern man found to be generally monogamous, moderately polygamous

(PhysOrg.com) -- Did women and men contribute equally to the lineage of contemporary populations? Did our ancestors, Homo sapiens, lean more toward polygamy or monogamy? To answer these questions, Dr. Damian ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Mar 02, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (8) | comments 12 | with audio podcast

New ancestor? Scientists ponder DNA from Siberia

(PhysOrg.com) -- An international team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig has sequenced ancient mitochondrial DNA from a finger bone found in southern Siberia. ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Mar 24, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (21) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Neanderthals wouldn't have eaten their sprouts either

Spanish researchers say they're a step closer to resolving a "mystery of evolution" -- why some people like Brussels sprouts but others hate them.

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Aug 12, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (20) | comments 21