Our distant ancestors may have swung below tree branches and knuckle-walked like a chimpanzee – challenging recent thinking that the earliest hominins did neither Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2269038-earliest-human-ancestors-may-have-swung-on-branches-like-chimps/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Tag: hominins
Mini brains genetically altered with CRISPR to be Neanderthal-like
Miniature brains grown in the lab are helping to reveal how modern humans survived when other hominins died out, by comparing their development when a key gene is altered Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2267610-mini-brains-genetically-altered-with-crispr-to-be-neanderthal-like/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Ancient humans may have hibernated to survive brutal glacial winters
Signs of disease in the bones of hominins who lived in glacial Europe half a million years ago hint they hibernated to cope with harsh winters – but the evidence is disputed Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2262133-ancient-humans-may-have-hibernated-to-survive-brutal-glacial-winters/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Our ancestors may have run a million years earlier than we thought
We thought hominins evolved to run around 2 million years ago – but a study of the famous Lucy’s species, Australopithecus afarensis, suggests she could run too Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2237361-our-ancestors-may-have-run-a-million-years-earlier-than-we-thought/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Did early humans in Africa interbreed with a mysterious, extinct species?
New research suggests that early humans in Africa interbred with a ghost population that likely split from the ancestors of humans and Neanderthals between 360,000 and 1.02 million years ago. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/early-humans-africa-interbred-with-extinct-species…
Twenty years of discoveries changing story of human evolution
Archaeological discoveries are happening faster than ever before, helping refine the human story. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/archaeological-discoveries-changing-story-of-human-evolution…
Long strand of DNA from Neanderthals found in people from Melanesia
Most humans have small snippets of DNA inherited from ancient hominins like Neanderthals. Now the first study shows some people have long stretches of it Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2220381-long-strand-of-dna-from-neanderthals-found-in-people-from-melanesia/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
New Fossil Reveals Face of Oldest Known ‘Lucy’ Relative
The face of the oldest known species of Australopithecus looks a bit like the famous “Lucy” and a bit like far older hominins. Source: https://www.livescience.com/nearly-complete-lucy-ancestor-skull-unearthed.html
Flightless bird three times the size of an ostrich used to roam Europe
A huge flightless bird called Pachystruthio dmanisensis lived in eastern Europe 1.8 million years ago, just when hominins first entered the continent from Africa Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2207695-flightless-bird-three-times-the-size-of-an-ostrich-used-to-roam-europe/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Did supernovae blasts prompt humans to walk upright?
A new study suggests a series of supernovae – peaking 2.6 million years ago – might have triggered earthly events that promoted proto-humans’ upright walking. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/supernova-humans-to-walk-upright…