Humanity’s birthplace: why everyone alive today can call northern Botswana home

Earliest population of modern humans arose 200,000 years ago in an area that covers parts of modern-day Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe

Semantics of Anthropocene: Have humans really formed a new era

The Earth will hardly notice when we humans are gone, just as it hardly knew we were here

Climate change and us: What really shaped human evolution last 2 million years

Climatic shifts determined where food was available, driving migration and adaptations, according to the study

Anthropocene doesn't exist and species of the future will not recognise it

The Anthropocene has come to fore as a powerful if perplexing way of talking about our current era

Neanderthals died out 40,000 years ago, but there has never been more of their DNA on Earth

Many Europeans and Asians have between 1% and 4% Neanderthal DNA while African people south of the Sahara have almost zero

When did humans first go to war?

Although the first modern Europeans may have been the first humans capable of organised warfare, we can’t say this behaviour was …

Scientists have created synthetic human embryos. Now we must consider the ethical and moral quandaries

This development, widely described as a breakthrough that could help scientists learn more about human development and genetic disorders

Prehistoric human footprints reveal a rare snapshot of ancient human group behaviour

Centuries ago, a group of 20 prehistoric modern humans walked through a volcanic mudflow, still active in Tanzania. This is what a footprint trail&…

The story of how mammals evolved

In his book ‘I, Mammal: The Story of What Makes us Mammals’, former neurobiologist Liam Drew takes the reader on a spectacular journey

Why we say 'huh' once every 84 seconds

N J Enfield’s book inverts traditional concerns about language and and seeks to understand it as we experience it—via the messy …

Climate change is the architect of new human species

Fossil records tell us that physical changes typically take 500,000 years to appear 

Swedish geneticist Svante Pääbo gets Medicine Nobel for his contributions to paleogenomics

Pääbo sequenced of the entire genome of Neanderthals; he also discovered the previously unknown hominin, Denisova

Analysis of tooth found in Laos proves that the Denisovans did exist beyond Siberia

Denisovans were first identified in a Siberian cave; but their genes existed in several Asian and Oceanic groups, thus intriguing scientists

How much evidence is enough to declare a new species of human from a Philippines cave site?

There is no reason to expect human evolution to have been any different to the evolution of other animals 

What makes humans unique? Scientists compare genomes of 240 species to uncover secrets of mammalian evolution

Mammals diversified when continental landmasses began drifting apart, notes study

Andhra’s 247,000 year old cache: Who had such advanced stone tools?

A study adds to evidence that modern humans may not have necessarily introduced advanced stone tools to India

Ancient human tracks on South Africa’s west coast: 3 reasons they are an exciting find

The two tracks have approximately the same orientation and are an appropriate distance apart for a walking human

‘An individual’s genome carries information shaped over millenia of evolutionary history’

Down To Earth spoke with Aryn P Wilder, co-author of one of 11 research papers providing insights into mammalian evolution

‘Changing climatic conditions induce vegetation changes, which shapes human evolution’

DTE speaks with professor Rajeev Patnaik to understand the relationship of evolution with climate

Nobel prize: Svante Pääbo’s ancient DNA discoveries offer clues as to what makes us human

Pääbo sequenced genomes of our extinct relatives Neanderthals and Denisovans; These discoveries resulted in novel insights into human …

Major new research claims smaller-brained Homo naledi made rock art and buried the dead. But the evidence is lacking

Four archaeologists who investigate early humans in Africa explain why theyr are not convinced the new research stacks up

Were Neanderthals carnivores? A tooth offers new insight into their diets

Diets a topic of debate; Researchers look into zinc isotopes in molar sample  

Ancient humans may have first walked upright on trees, not land

Researchers look at chimpazees to understand bipedalism; New study contradicts earlier theories

Evolution: why it seems to have a direction and what to expect next

A dominant, intelligent species like humans will always be bad news for many of the other species on the planets where they evolve

When did Homo erectus die out?

A fresh look at the demise of an ancient human species over 100,000 years ago