http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/fossils_ruins/early_humans/ Read about early humans in this anthropology news section. Early human development, early human migration, culture and more. Photos. en-us Mon, 12 May 2008 22:05:01 EDT Mon, 12 May 2008 22:05:01 EDT 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/fossils_ruins/early_humans/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508182219.htm DNA analysis of residents of Druze villages in Israel suggests these ancient religious communities offer a genetic snapshot of the Near East as it was several thousands of years ago. The Druze harbor a remarkable diversity of mitochondrial DNA types or lineages that appear to have separated from each other many thousands of years ago, according to a new study by multinational team. Mon, 12 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508182219.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507131453.htm The duck-billed platypus: part bird, part reptile, part mammal -- and the genome to prove it. Scientists have decoded the genome of the platypus, showing that the animal's peculiar mix of features is reflected in its DNA. An analysis of the genome can help scientists piece together a more complete picture of the evolution of all mammals, including humans. Wed, 07 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507131453.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424130710.htm Over 600 complete mtDNA genomes from indigenous populations across the continent were analyzed and the data provided surprising insights into the early demographic history of human populations before they moved out of Africa. The extensive data analysis revealed that early human populations were small and isolated from each other for many tens of thousands of years. Fri, 25 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424130710.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080421154426.htm An anthropologist has reconstructed vocal tracts that simulate the sound of the Neanderthal voice. Using 50,000-year-old fossils from France and a computer synthesizer, the researcher has generated a recording of how a Neanderthal would pronounce the letter "e." Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080421154426.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080408112112.htm Archaeologists have reconstructed the history of the evolution of human population and answered questions about history, using DNA extracted from skeleton remains at the Aldaieta necropolis. It is clear that the genetic analysis of skeleton remains, despite the labor-intensive work involved and the problem of authenticity of the results, has provided an essential contribution in the reconstruction of the biological history of human populations. Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080408112112.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080408132122.htm Researchers have developed a technique to detect the ancestry of disease genes in mixed human populations. The technique determines how a set of DNA markers shows the ancestral origin of locations on each chromosome. The team constructed an algorithm for the technique that selects panels of DNA markers that render the best picture of ancestral origin of disease genes. Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080408132122.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080403185958.htm Archaeologists have discovered the oldest known remains of human ancestors in Western Europe. The fossil is about 1.2 million years old. That's 500,000 years older than the previous oldest known humanlike fossils from the area. The new find bolsters the view that Homo reached Europe not long after leaving Africa almost 2 million years ago. Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080403185958.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080320183657.htm A shape comparison of the most complete fossil femur (thigh bone) of one of the earliest known pre-humans, or hominins, with the femora of living apes, modern humans and other fossils, indicates the earliest form of bipedalism occurred at least six million years ago and persisted for at least four million years. Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080320183657.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080319104600.htm New research adds to the evidence that chance, rather than natural selection, best explains why the skulls of modern humans and ancient Neanderthals evolved differently. The findings may alter how anthropologists think about human evolution. Thu, 20 Mar 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080319104600.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080310151958.htm Since the reporting of the so-called "hobbit" fossil from Flores in Indonesia, debate has raged as to whether these remains are of modern humans (Homo sapiens), reduced in stature, or whether they represent a new species, Homo floresiensis.Now researchers describe fossils of small-bodied humans from Palau, who inhabited the island between 1,400 and 3,000 years ago and share some features with the H. floresiensis specimens. Tue, 11 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080310151958.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080228124415.htm An area of the brain involved in the planning and production of spoken and signed language in humans plays a similar role in chimpanzee communication, researchers report in Current Biology. The results suggest that the "neurobiological foundations" of human language may have been present in the common ancestor of modern humans and chimpanzees. Fri, 29 Feb 2008 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080228124415.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080214144412.htm A ubiquitous but little-known marine organism, the choanoflagellate, is the last one-celled ancestor of humans and provides insight into how cells learned to assemble into multicelled organisms. The genome of the choanoflagellate Monisiga brevicollis has now been sequenced and offers clues to the origin of the glue that holds many-celled animals together and how cells learned to communicate. Wed, 20 Feb 2008 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080214144412.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080211172609.htm 'Junk DNA' could hold the secret of the evolutionary origin of complex animals, according to new research. Vertebrates - animals such as humans that possess a backbone - are the most anatomically and genetically complex of all organisms, but explaining how they achieved this complexity has vexed scientists since the conception of evolutionary theory. Now researchers have traced the beginnings of complex life, i.e. vertebrates, to microRNA. Wed, 13 Feb 2008 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080211172609.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080131152013.htm Scientists have reported the discovery of two common, single-letter variants in the sequence of the human genome that regulate one of the principle motors of evolution. Yet remarkably, the versions of the SNPs that increase recombination in men decrease it in women, and vice versa. Mon, 04 Feb 2008 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080131152013.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080130092139.htm Using mice as models, researchers traced some of the differences between humans and chimpanzees to differences in our diet. By feeding laboratory mice different human and chimp diets over a mere two week period, researchers were able to reconstruct some of the physiological and genetic differences observed between humans and chimpanzees. Sun, 03 Feb 2008 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080130092139.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080130170343.htm New research shows that people with blue eyes have a single, common ancestor. Scientists have tracked down a genetic mutation which took place 6,000-10,000 years ago and is the cause of the eye color of all blue-eyed humans alive on the planet today. Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080130170343.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080101193653.htm "Ritual punishment using barbed death spears was witnessed at European contact in the Sydney region," one of the researchers said. "The Narrabeen man provides early archaeological evidence for ritual or payback killing by spearing. The timing of this event is significant for understanding other archaeological indicators of increased social complexity across south-eastern Australia." Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080101193653.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071219082604.htm Scientists long have focused on how climate and vegetation allowed human ancestors to evolve in Africa. Now, geologists are calling renewed attention to the idea that ground movements formed mountains and valleys, creating environments that favored the emergence of humanity. Sat, 22 Dec 2007 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071219082604.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071212201347.htm The transition from apes to humans may have been partially triggered by the need to stand on two legs, in order to safely carry heavier babies. For safety, all nonhuman primates carry their young clinging to their fur from birth, and species survival depends on it. The carrying pattern changes as the infant grows. Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071212201347.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071214094129.htm While it is well understood that the evolution of new genes leads to adaptations that help species survive, gene loss may also afford a selective advantage. Scientists identified 26 losses of long-established genes, including 16 that were not previously known. Next they compared the identified genes in the complete genomes of the human, chimpanzee, rhesus monkey, mouse, rat, dog, and opossum to estimate the amount of time the gene was functional before it was lost. This refined the timing of the gene loss and also served as a benchmark for whether the gene in question was long-established, and therefore probably functional, or merely a loss of a redundant gene copy. Through this process, they found 6 genes that were lost only in the human. Sat, 15 Dec 2007 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071214094129.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071210213316.htm Countering a common theory that human evolution has slowed to a crawl or even stopped in modern humans, a new study examining data from an international genomics project describes the past 40,000 years as a time of supercharged evolutionary change, driven by exponential population growth and cultural shifts. Tue, 11 Dec 2007 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071210213316.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071207091852.htm Although most scientists believe tuberculosis emerged only several thousand years ago, new research reveals the most ancient evidence of the disease has been found in a 500,000-year-old human fossil from Turkey. The discovery of the new specimen of the human species, Homo erectus, suggests support for the theory that dark-skinned people who migrate northward from low, tropical latitudes produce less vitamin D, which can adversely affect the immune system as well as the skeleton. Sat, 08 Dec 2007 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071207091852.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071204100409.htm Tooth growth suggests rapid maturation in a Neanderthal child. Neanderthal life history, or the timing of developmental and reproductive events, has been under great debate during the past few decades. Across primates, tooth development, specifically the age of molar eruption, is related to other developmental landmarks such as weaning and first reproduction. Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071204100409.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071129143817.htm Some of our closest extinct relatives had more in common with gorillas than previously thought. Fossils illustrate sex differences in growth and the costs of being a male. One of the anthropologists said "When we examined fossils from 1.5 to 2 million years ago we found that in one of our close relatives the males continued to grow well into adulthood, just as they do in gorillas. This resulted in a much bigger size difference between males and females than we see today." Fri, 30 Nov 2007 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071129143817.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071112172155.htm Chimpanzees inhabiting a harsh savanna environment and using bark and stick tools to exploit an underground food resource are giving scientists new insights to the behaviors of the earliest hominids who, millions of years ago, left the African forests to range the same kinds of environments and possibly utilize the same foods. Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071112172155.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071105120612.htm The earliest birds acted more like turkeys than common cuckoos, according to a new article. By comparing the claw curvatures of ancient and modern birds, the researchers provide new evidence that the evolutionary ancestors of birds primarily made their livings on the ground rather than in trees. Tue, 06 Nov 2007 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071105120612.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071025160653.htm Questions about human migration from Asia to the Americas have perplexed anthropologists for decades, but as scenarios about the peopling of the New World come and go, the big questions have remained. Do the ancestors of Native Americans derive from only a small number of "founders" who trekked to the Americas via the Bering land bridge? How did their migration to the New World proceed? What, if anything, did the climate have to do with their migration? And what took them so long? Mon, 29 Oct 2007 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071025160653.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071025143311.htm Ancient DNA retrieved from the bones of two Neanderthals suggests that at least some of them had red hair and pale skin, scientists report in Science. Neanderthals' pigmentation may even have been as varied as that of modern humans, and researchers say at least 1 percent of Neanderthals were likely redheads. Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071025143311.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071018123649.htm Adaptive changes in a human gene involved in speech and language were shared by our closest extinct relatives, the Neandertals according to a new article. The human form of the gene arose much earlier than scientists had estimated previously. This raises the possibility that Neandertals possessed some of the prerequisites for language. Sun, 21 Oct 2007 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071018123649.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071018145955.htm For amateur genealogists and Americans searching for their roots, the prospect of tracking one's DNA to a specific country, region or tribe with a take-home kit is highly alluring. But while the popularity of genetic ancestral testing is rising -- particularly among African-Americans -- the technology is flawed and could spawn unwelcome societal consequences, according to researchers. Sat, 20 Oct 2007 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071018145955.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071017145252.htm Evidence of early humans living on the coast in South Africa, harvesting food from the sea, employing complex bladelet tools and using red pigments in symbolic behavior 164,000 years ago, far earlier than previously documented, is now being reported. Wed, 17 Oct 2007 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071017145252.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071012160147.htm The sequencing of Neanderthal nuclear DNA from fossil bone held promise for finally answering the question of whether the Neanderthals are ancestors of ours. However, two recent studies came to very different conclusions regarding the ancestral role of Neanderthals. Sun, 14 Oct 2007 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071012160147.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071009212545.htm An extraordinary advance in human origins research reveals evidence of the emergence of the upright human body plan over 15 million years earlier than most experts have believed. More dramatically, the study confirms preliminary evidence that many early hominoid apes were most likely upright bipedal walkers sharing the basic body form of modern humans. Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071009212545.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071008154457.htm Researchers have created the first evolutionary history of the duplications in the human genome that are partly responsible for both disease and recent genetic innovations. This work marks a significant step toward a better understanding of what genomic changes paved the way for modern humans, when these duplications occurred and what the associated costs are - in terms of susceptibility to disease-causing genetic mutations. Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071008154457.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070927141921.htm Scientists discovered that hair shafts provide an ideal source of ancient DNA -- a better source than bones and muscle for studying the genome sequences of extinct animals. They sequenced the entire mitochondrial genomes from 10 individual woolly mammoths. Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070927141921.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070920145353.htm Researchers have completed a new study on Homo floresiensis, commonly referred to as the "hobbit," a 3-foot-tall, 18,000-year-old hominin skeleton, discovered four years ago on the Indonesian island of Flores. This study offers one of the most striking confirmations of the original interpretation of the hobbit as an island remnant of one of the oldest human migrations to Asia. Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070920145353.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070909184006.htm To think that world domination could have begun in the cheeks. That's one interpretation of a recent discovery which indicates that humans carry extra copies of the salivary amylase gene. Humans have many more copies of this gene than any of their ape relatives, the study found, and they use the copies to flood their mouths with amylase, an enzyme that digests starch. The finding bolsters the idea that starch was a crucial addition to the diet of early humans, and that natural selection favored individuals who could make more starch-digesting protein. Fri, 14 Sep 2007 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070909184006.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070911073902.htm The earliest humans almost certainly walked upright on two legs but may have struggled to run at even half the speed of modern man, new research suggests. They proposes that if early humans lacked an Achilles tendon, as modern chimps and gorillas do, then their ability to run would have been severely compromised. Wed, 12 Sep 2007 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070911073902.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070905161208.htm In a groundbreaking study, two Harvard scientists have for the first time extracted human DNA from ancient artifacts. The work potentially opens up a new universe of sources for ancient genetic material, which is used to map human migrations in prehistoric times. Before this, archaeologists could only get ancient DNA from relics of the human body itself, including prehistoric teeth, bones, fossilized feces, or -- rarely -- preserved flesh. Such sources of DNA are hard to find, poorly preserved, or unavailable because of cultural and legal barriers. Thu, 06 Sep 2007 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070905161208.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070904151351.htm Ultraconserved elements are DNA sequences, hundreds of base pairs long, that are 100-percent identical in mice, rats and humans. Their perfect conservation for over 80 million years was thought due to evolutionary pressure, such that if even one nucleotide changes, the organism would die. But in a new study knockout mice with deleted ultraconserved elements showed virtually no ill effects. Thu, 06 Sep 2007 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070904151351.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070828162834.htm More than three million years ago, early hominins evolved the ability to walk upright and in doing so started us along the evolutionary path that eventually gave rise to Homo sapiens. It was Darwin who first suggested that a change of climate, giving rise to vast, arid, savannahs, may have spurred on human evolution all those millions of years ago. But what caused that change of climate? Could the formation of one of Earth's most spectacular landscapes, the Ethiopian Plateau, have been responsible for development of the great African grasslands? And if so, what were the geological processes that led to the formation of the plateau? Fri, 31 Aug 2007 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070828162834.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070813101018.htm Chance, not natural selection, best explains why the modern human skull looks so different from that of its Neanderthal relative. The scientists concluded that Neanderthals did not develop their protruding mid-faces as an adaptation to icy Pleistocene weather or the demands of using teeth as tools, and the retracted faces of modern humans are not an adaptation for language, as some anthropologists have proposed. Instead, random "genetic drift" is the likeliest reason for these skull differences. Thu, 16 Aug 2007 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070813101018.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070813095003.htm Men with large jaws, flaring cheeks and large eyebrows are sexy, at least in the eyes of our ancestors, researchers at the Natural History Museum have discovered. Facial attractiveness played a major role in shaping human evolution, as studies on our fossil ancestors have shown our choice of sexual partner has shaped the human face. Wed, 15 Aug 2007 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070813095003.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070813093132.htm Two new fossils cast fresh light on a little understood and important period of human prehistory at the dawn of our own genus, Homo. One of the two fossils, an upper jaw bone of Homo habilis (KNM-ER 42703), dates from 1.44 million years ago, which is more recent than previously known fossils of that species. This late-survivor shows that Homo habilis and Homo erectus lived side by side in eastern Africa for nearly half a million years. Mon, 13 Aug 2007 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070813093132.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070807145140.htm In 1942, a human braincase was found in Romania during phosphate mining. The skull's geological age has remained uncertain. Now, new radiocarbon analysis directly dates the skull to approximately 33,000 years ago, placing it in the Upper Paleolithic. Though this braincase is in many ways similar to other known specimens from the period, the fossil also presents a distinctly Neanderthal feature, ubiquitous among Neanderthals, extremely rare among archaic humans, and unknown among prior modern humans. Fri, 10 Aug 2007 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070807145140.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070730173507.htm Researchers report the results of a large-scale, genome-wide study to investigate gene copy number differences among ten primate species, including humans. In the report, the scientists speculate how unique, lineage-specific gene copy number expansions and contractions in humans may underlie traits such as endurance running, higher cognitive function, and susceptibility genetic disease. Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070730173507.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070724114040.htm The first complete mitochondrial DNA genome for the mastodon extends the age range for genomic analyses by almost a complete glacial cycle, and resolves the relationships among African and Asian elephants and mammoths. The mastodon becomes only the third extinct taxon for which the complete mitochondrial genome is known. Mon, 30 Jul 2007 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070724114040.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070720111226.htm A team of anthropologists that studied chimpanzees trained to use treadmills has gathered new evidence suggesting that our earliest apelike ancestors started walking on two legs because it required less energy than getting around on all fours. The researchers found that human walking used about 75 percent less energy and burned 75 percent fewer calories than quadrupedal and bipedal walking in chimpanzees. They also found that for some but not all of the chimps, walking on two legs was no more costly than knucklewalking. Fri, 20 Jul 2007 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070720111226.htm