hominin

Ape evolution: Family tree of extinct apes reveals our early evolutionary history

by

A new family tree of apes that lived in the Miocene between 23 and 5.3 million years ago reveals which are our close relatives and which are only distant cousins Humans 16 March 2022 By Michael Marshall Dryopithecus, an extinct ape from the Miocene JOHN SIBBICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY A huge study of fossil apes clarifies … Read more

Orangutans can learn how to use stone tools as hammers and knives

by

Captive orangutans that had never seen stone tools could work out how to use them to hit or cut things – but they couldn’t get the hang of making them Life 16 February 2022 By Michael Marshall Orangutans live in trees and rarely encounter stones MERVYN REES/Alamy Stock Photo Captive orangutans that had never seen … Read more

Modern humans moved into cave one year after Neanderthals abandoned it

by

About 10,000 years before modern humans colonised Europe, a small group of them moved into a cave in southern France that had just been abandoned by Neanderthals – but they only stayed there for about 40 years Humans 9 February 2022 By Michael Marshall Excavations at the entrance of Grotte Mandrin Slimak-Metz A small group … Read more

Human evolution: 160,000-year-old fossil may be the first Denisovan skull we’ve found

by

A partial skull from China represents the earliest human with a “modern” brain size. It could represent an unknown group of ancient humans, or perhaps one of the enigmatic Denisovans Humans 26 January 2022 By Michael Marshall Fragments of a large ancient human skull known as Xujiayao 6 Xiu-Jie Wu,Christopher J.Bae, Martin Friess, Song Xing, … Read more

Human evolution: Ancient hominins may have started hunting 2 million years ago

by

Cut marks on animal bones suggest ancient hominins butchered them for their meat, and that they were first on the scene instead of having to scavenge from carnivores like big cats Humans 11 January 2022 By Michael Marshall Notches on a bone left by human butchering activity Jennifer A. Parkinson, Thomas W. Plummer, James S. … Read more

Early humans: Mystery hominin in East Africa had an unusual walking style

by

A set of 3.7-million-year-old footprints were initially thought to have been left by a bear walking upright, but have now been reinterpreted as the prints of an unidentified hominin that walked a little bit like a modern catwalk fashion model Humans 1 December 2021 By Michael Marshall One of the hominin footprints preserved at Laetoli … Read more