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August 21, 2008 10:34:29 PM CDT

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Stories related to: human evolution

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14 Stories

  • August 2008

    • Did We Slaughter the Neanderthals?

      Independent (UK)  |  Aug 8, 08 8:20 AM CDT

      Did We Slaughter the Neanderthals?

      (Newser) - Analysis of DNA from a thigh bone is helping solve the longstanding question of what happened to Neanderthals. Did they simply die off, were they killed by more modern humans—or did the two groups interbreed? DNA from the Neanderthal bone is so different from that of modern humans that interbreeding now appears highly unlikely, the Independent reports, making it likely that our ancestors were to blame. More »

      Tags

      DNA evidence  • human evolution  • Neanderthals  • prehistoric

  • March 2008

    • Humans Wired to Fear Snakes

      LiveScience  |  Mar 5, 08 4:42 PM CST

      Humans Wired to Fear Snakes

      (Newser) - Evolution seems to have given humans a hard-wired ability to recognize snakes and spiders, LiveScience reports. Intrigued by the widespread fear of serpents despite the fact that most humans rarely interact with them, researchers showed groups of adults and 3-year-olds natural scenes containing various hidden animals. Both groups were consistently able to find snakes and spiders faster than other animals. More »

      Tags

      genes  • human evolution  • psychological research  • snakes  • spiders  • phobias  • natural selection

  • February 2008

    • Africans Have Most Diverse DNA

      Reuters  |  Feb 21, 08 1:47 PM CST

      Africans Have Most Diverse DNA

      (Newser) - A pair of wide-ranging genetic studies, published yesterday in the journal Nature , back up the idea that humanity first evolved in Africa before migrating elsewhere, Reuters reports. DNA testing of African Americans and European Americans found that people with African roots had much more genetic diversity. Other tests discovered that DNA diversity decreased the farther away populations were from Africa. More »

      Tags

      Africa  • DNA  • genetics  • genetic mutation  • human evolution  • genetic research

  • January 2008

    • Baby Blues Come From Single Ancestor

      LiveScience  |  Jan 31, 08 7:21 PM CST

      Baby Blues Come From Single Ancestor

      (Newser) - All blue-eyed people have a single, shared ancestor, scientists say. And all those baby blues are the result of a genetic mutation that occurred between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago, LiveScience reports. Before that, everyone had brown eyes. The mutation limits the effects of the gene that produces melanin, which colors our eyes and hair, thus diluting browns to blues. More »

      Tags

      science  • genetics  • Denmark  • genetic mutation  • human evolution  • eyes

  • December 2007
  • November 2007

    • Female Hunters May Have Doomed Neanderthals

      Boston Globe  |  Nov 11, 07 11:11 AM CST

      Female Hunters May Have Doomed Neanderthals

      (Newser) - "Stone Age feminism" may have contributed to the Neanderthals' extinction, says a recent study, which uses archaeological evidence to argue that Neanderthal females hunted—and were "stomped, gored, and worse"—alongside males. Pitting the "reproductive core" of a population that never topped 10,000 against giant beasts, reports the Boston Globe , "could bring doom to a hard-pressed species." More »

      Tags

      feminism  • human evolution  • Neanderthals  • homo sapiens

  • September 2007

    • 'Hobbits' Were, Indeed, a Different Kind of Human

      Daily Telegraph (UK)  |  Sep 21, 07 1:30 PM CDT

      'Hobbits' Were, Indeed, a Different Kind of Human

      (Newser) - A new study of three wrist bones from an 18,000-year-old fossil shows that the so-called hobbits of Indonesia were, indeed, a separate human species. When the bones were discovered in 2003, scientists trumpeted the find as evidence of a smaller species, Homo floresiensis. But skeptics argued that the hobbit, at 3 feet tall with a brain the size of a grapefruit, was in fact a human afflicted by microcephaly, a brain-shrinking disorder. More »

      Tags

      Indonesia  • archaeology  • fossil  • human evolution  • anthropology  • skeleton  • hobbits  • Homo erectus  • homo sapien

    • New Georgian Fossils May Link 'Lucy' and Homo Erectus

      New York Times  |  Sep 20, 07 6:57 PM CDT

      New Georgian Fossils May Link 'Lucy' and Homo Erectus

      (Newser) - Archaeologists have unearthed four fossilized skeletons of a human ancestor that shares characteristics with the humanesque Homo erectus and the earlier, smaller Australopithicus afarensis, of which the famous 'Lucy' skeleton is a member. The fossils in the republic of Georgia contradict the previously held idea that hominids developed all key human attributes before emigrating from Africa, the NY Times reports. More »

      Tags

      fossil  • human evolution  • Lucy

  • August 2007

    • Lucy Debuts in Houston

      Houston Chronicle  |  Aug 29, 07 5:20 AM CDT

      Lucy Debuts in Houston

      (Newser) - Lucy kicks off her public debut  at the Houston Museum of Natural Science tomorrow amid controversy that the world's favorite human ancestor should never have left her home in Ethiopia. The public wants the chance to the 3.2 million-year-old remains, but scientists say Lucy's too fragile to travel. More »

      Tags

      evolution  • fossil  • Houston  • Ethiopia  • human evolution  • Lucy

    • Women Have Been Falling for Brad Pitt Types for 2.6M Years

      LiveScience  |  Aug 25, 07 10:42 AM CDT

      Women Have Been Falling for Brad Pitt Types for 2.6M Years

      (Newser) - The facial proportions of the average hot guy haven't changed much throughout human  evolutionary history, finds a new study that compares contemporary human skulls with skulls from 2.6 million years ago. Women have been selecting for males with short, broad faces—think Brad Pitt and Will Smith—since the dawn of man, and chimps do the same. More »

      Tags

      women  • science  • Brad Pitt  • evolution  • gender  • men  • human evolution  • biology  • attraction

    • Girls Think Pink, Naturally, Study Finds

      Daily Telegraph (UK)  |  Aug 21, 07 3:16 AM CDT

      Girls Think Pink, Naturally, Study Finds

      (Newser) - Shocking news: Girls love pink. That love might not just be cultural—but linked to evolutionary development, researchers  in a new study have concluded. Pink may have helped ancient women recognize ripe fruit and healthy men with ruddy faces, while both genders yearned for the blue of open skies and clear water, the Telegraph reports. More »

      Tags

      gender  • human evolution  • biology  • gender roles  • girls  • pink

    • Kenyan Fossil Rattles Human Family Tree

      National Geographic  |  Aug 9, 07 8:15 AM CDT

      Kenyan Fossil Rattles Human Family Tree

      (Newser) - Two of our ancestors apparently lived alongside each other in Africa rather than evolving from one to the next on the path to Homo sapiens , as scientists once believed. National Geographic reports that a Homo habilis skull dug up in Kenya is surprisingly young, making its 1.4 million-year-old owner a neighbor to Homo erectus rather than an evolutionary forerunner. More »

      Tags

      Africa  • Kenya  • evolution  • archaeology  • fossil  • human evolution  • anthropology  • origins of humanity  • Homo erectus  • homo sapiens

    • Orangutans Play Charades

      BBC  |  Aug 2, 07 9:24 AM CDT

      Orangutans Play Charades

      (Newser) - Orangutan communication works just like a game of charades, according to new research. Orangs and other apes who use signals to communicate what they want pay careful attention to whether their audience understands their gestures—if something works, they repeat it, and if they aren't getting through they try another signal. More »

      Tags

      language  • human evolution  • communication  • apes  • orangutans

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