A recent groundbreaking study has radically altered our understanding of human evolution. Homo sapiens, traditionally thought to have descended from a single lineage, is now believed to be the product ...

An analysis of bones from ancient people who once lived in Colombia has discovered DNA that does not directly connect them to ...

Studying human evolution involves piecing together scattered clues about how we survived against tough odds. One of the biggest mysteries is understanding how large or small ancient human populations ...

Some of our species’ earliest ancestors may have spent a lot more time eating salad than steak. Diet has been a crucial component of human evolution, says Tina Lüdecke, a geochemist at the Max Planck ...

After four failed attempts, scientists have at last dated the skeleton of a possible human-Neanderthal hybrid found in Portugal more than two decades ago. The famous and mysterious Lapedo child lived ...

More than three decades ago, a pair of hikers discovered the mummified body of a prehistoric man on an Alpine pass along the border of Italy and Austria. Archaeologists have been obsessed ever since.

When Matthias Meyer began studying the ancient DNA in the 400,000 year old fossils he found in the Sima de los Huesos, or Pit of Bones cave, deep beneath the Atapuerca mountains in Spain, he was ...

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American As store-based distribution of genetic health ...

All of us have ancestors, or we wouldn't be alive today. All of us have a heritage, or we wouldn't be human. The difference between these two statements about ancestry and heritage is fundamental and ...