Alternate theory of inhabitation of North America challenged
There has long been a debate among scholars about the origins of the first inhabitants of North America.
Victorian baby teeth could help predict future health of children today
The team from the Universities of Bradford and Durham analysed the teeth of children and adults from two 19th century cemeteries, one at a Workhouse in Ireland where famine victims were buried and the other in London, which holds the graves of some of those who fled the famine.
Big toe’s big foot holds evolutionary key
Our skeletons hold tell-tale signs that show that human bipedalism - walking upright and on two feet - are unique to humans especially when compared to our closest living relatives, apes.
Millions of modern men found to be descendants of 11 Asian dynastic leaders
University of Leicester researchers discover that many modern men have genetic links to ancient figures such as Genghis Khan.
Humans adapted to living in rainforests much sooner than thought
An international research team has shed new light on the diet of some of the earliest recorded humans in Sri Lanka.
Centuries-old DNA helps identify origins of slave skeletons found in Caribbean
More than 300 years ago, three African-born slaves died on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. No written records memorialized their fate, and their names and precise ethnic background remained a mystery.
Study finds significant facial variation in pre-Columbian South America
A team of anthropology researchers has found significant differences in facial features between all seven pre-Columbian peoples they evaluated from what is now Peru - disproving a longstanding perception that these groups were physically homogenous.
Genetic study revives debate on origin and expansion of Indo-European languages in Europe
UAB has participated in a research published in Nature which identified a massive migration of Kurgan populations (Yamna culture) which went from the Russian steppes to the centre of Europe some 4,500 years ago, favouring the expansion of Indo-European languages throughout the continent.
Fewer viral relics may be due to a less bloody evolutionary history
A researcher from Plymouth University School of Biomedical and Healthcare Sciences had led an international team investigating viruses that entered the DNA of our ancestors millions of years ago.
Dental plaque reveals key plant in prehistoric Easter Island diet
A University of Otago, New Zealand, PhD student analysing dental calculus (hardened plaque) from ancient teeth is helping resolve the question of what plant foods Easter Islanders relied on before European contact.
Prehistoric conflict hastened human brain’s capacity for collaboration, study says
Warfare not only hastened human technological progress and vast social and political changes, but may have greatly contributed to the evolutionary emergence of humans' high intelligence and ability to work together toward common goals
Scientific methods shed new light on evolution of kinship patterns
New biological methods used to trace the evolutionary history of kinship patterns shed new light on how societies developed as farming spread across the globe during the Neolithic, according to new research by a UCL-led international team.
Did men evolve navigation skills to find mates?
A University of Utah study of two African tribes found evidence that men evolved better navigation ability than women because men with better spatial skills - the ability to mentally manipulate objects - can roam farther and have children with more mates.
Gene that once aided survival in the Arctic is found to have negative impact on health today
Millennia-old genetic variant that once provided advantages for survival in cold climates increases risk of hypoglycemia and infant mortality.
In Amazon wars, bands of brothers-in-law
When Yanomamö men in the Amazon raided villages and killed decades ago, they formed alliances with men in other villages rather than just with close kin like chimpanzees do.
