Inbred Neanderthals left humans a genetic burden
The Neanderthal genome included harmful mutations that made the hominids around 40% less reproductively fit than modern humans, according to estimates published in the latest issue of the journal GENETICS.
Structures in French cave sheds new light on the Neanderthals
Deep inside Bruniquel Cave, in the Tarn et Garonne region of southwestern France, a set of man-made structures 336 meters from the entrance was recently dated as being approximately 176,500 years old.
Back to the future: Space-age exploration for pre-historic bones
The extremely difficult conditions in which University of the Witwatersrand's (Wits) Professor Lee Berger's Rising Star team was forced to work, gave rise to the use of space-age technology to map the Dinaledi chamber and Rising Star Cave, in which over 1500 Homo naledi fossils were found.
Migration back to Africa took place during the Palaeolithic
A piece of international research led by the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country has retrieved the mitogenome of a fossil belonging to the first Homo sapiens population in Europe.
Neanderthals were stocky from birth
If a Neandertal were to sit down next to us on the underground, we would probably first notice his receding forehead, prominent brow ridges and projecting, chinless face.
New research suggests climate change may have contributed to extinction of Neanderthals
A researcher at the University of Colorado Denver has found that Neanderthals in Europe showed signs of nutritional stress during periods of extreme cold, suggesting climate change may have contributed to their demise around 40,000 years ago.
The genetic history of Ice Age Europe
Analyses of ancient DNA from prehistoric humans paint a picture of dramatic population change in Europe from 45,000 to 7,000 years ago, according to a new study led by Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator David Reich at Harvard Medical School.
Hominins may have been food for carnivores 500,000 years ago
Tooth-marks on a 500,000-year-old hominin femur bone found in a Moroccan cave indicate that it was consumed by large carnivores, likely hyenas, according to a study published April 27, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Camille Daujeard from the Muséum National D'Histoire Naturelle, France, and colleagues.
Neandertals and Upper Paleolithic Homo sapiens had different dietary strategies
When fluctuating climates in the Ice Age altered habitats, modern humans may have adapted their diets in a different way than Neandertals, according to a study published April 27, 2016 in the open-access journalPLOS ONE by Sireen El Zaatari of the University of Tübingen, Germany, and colleagues.
Bigger brains led to bigger bodies in our ancestors
New research suggests that humans became the large-brained, large-bodied animals we are today because of natural selection to increase brain size.
Neanderthals may have been infected by diseases carried out of Africa by humans
A new study suggests that Neanderthals across Europe may well have been infected with diseases carried out of Africa by waves of anatomically modern humans, or Homo sapiens. As both were species of hominin, it would have been easier for pathogens to jump populations, say researchers. This might have contributed to the demise of Neanderthals.
Neanderthal Y chromosome offers clues to what kept us separate species
Researchers reporting in the American Journal of Human Genetics, published by Cell Press, have completed the first in-depth genetic analysis of a Neanderthal Y chromosome. The findings offer new insights into the relationship between Neanderthals and modern humans and some of the genetic factors that might have kept the two lineages apart.
The Hobbit gets a little older, and science a little wiser
When a skeleton of the so-called ‘Hobbit’ - scientific name Homo floresiensis - was unearthed in Indonesia in 2003 it would go on to cause a major furor in anthropological circles like few others before it.
Neanderthal bone found using novel fingerprinting technique
An international team of scientists has used a new molecular fingerprinting technique to identify one Neanderthal bone from around 2,000 tiny fragments found in Russia.
Indonesian ‘Hobbits’ may have died out sooner than thought
An ancient species of pint-sized humans discovered in the tropics of Indonesia may have met their demise earlier than once believed, according to an international team of scientists who reinvestigated the original finding.
