Articles tagged with Hominins
The Messak Settafet escarpment in the Saharan desert features a vast 'carpet' of stone-age tools, averaging 75 artefacts per square metre. The tools were extracted and discarded over hundreds of thousands of years, creating an entire landscape modified by hominins.
Researchers have discovered the earliest known fossil of the genus Homo, dating back to 2.8-2.75 million years ago, in the Afar region of Ethiopia. The fossils provide insights into the environment and ecological community where early Homo lived, suggesting a mixed grassland habitat with gallery forests.
Scientists have found a connection between early Stone Age slaughtering tools and the emergence of modern human communication. The study suggests that teaching and perhaps even proto-language occurred around 1.8 million years ago.
A new study links groundwater availability to human evolution, proposing that springs fed by freshwater could have sustained life during extremely dry periods. The research suggests that access to groundwater may have been crucial for hominin survival and dispersal.
Researchers cast doubt on theories that Australopithecus africanus exhibits key cranial adaptations found in modern human infants and toddlers. The study used high-resolution CT scans of the Taung Child's skull and brain, revealing no evidence for infant brain development similar to that of modern humans.
Researchers have identified skulls with a mix of Neandertal and primitive traits, providing new insights into human evolution. The findings support the accretion model hypothesis, suggesting that Neandertals developed their defining features in stages, not all at once.
Researchers propose that human faces developed robust features to protect against facial injuries during hand-to-hand combat, challenging the long-held hypothesis that these traits arose from eating hard foods. The study's findings support the idea that violence played a significant role in shaping human evolution.
A study published in PLOS ONE suggests that early hominins like Paranthropus boisei ate a diet of tiger nuts, fruits, and insects, providing enough nutrients for their large brains. The research calculates that a hominin could extract sufficient calories from tiger nuts in just two to three hours per day.
Researchers found that early humans focused on sites with abundant nutritious foods, including protein, fats, carbohydrates, and essential vitamins. These nutrient-rich locations allowed hominins to colonize the Atlantic fringe of north west Europe during warm periods.
A recent study using dental fossils suggests that the common ancestor of Neanderthals and modern humans diverged nearly 1 million years ago, contradicting previous molecular evidence. The researchers found no known hominin species matches the expected dental morphology of the last common ancestor.
A new study challenges traditional hypotheses on human evolution by suggesting that bipedalism emerged as a response to the terrain, rather than climate-driven vegetation changes. The research proposes that the development of upright gait was driven by the need for security and food in rocky outcrops and gorges.
A study led by Binghamton University anthropologist Rolf Quam analyzed two species of early human ancestor in South Africa, revealing a human-like malleus that suggests changes in the bone occurred early in human evolution. The findings provide new insight into human origins and may need to be updated to include changes in this bone.
A recent study led by Joseph Ferraro, Ph.D., sheds light on the diet and food acquisition strategies of early human ancestors in Africa. The research team found that hominins at Kanjera South, Kenya, relied on a combination of hunting and scavenging behaviors to acquire nutritious animal remains.
A 2-year-old hominin child's skull fragment unearthed in Tanzania shows signs of anemia-induced porotic hyperostosis due to a diet lacking in meat. The discovery suggests that meat consumption became essential for proper functioning, leading to brain development and evolution.
A special journal edition published by the University of Witwatersrand and the Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST) reveals groundbreaking findings on Homo habilis and its ecological pressures. The research, conducted over two decades at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, sheds new light on human evolution and technological development.
Researchers analyzed fossil teeth to determine the dietary preferences of three groups of hominins in South Africa. The study found that Australopithecus had a more varied diet than early Homo, while Paranthropus had a primarily herbivorous-like diet
A study published in Nature magazine found that Australopithecus sediba had a varied diet consisting of fruits, tree bark, nuts, leaves and sedges. The team's analysis suggests they lived in a forested margin near grasslands, contrary to previous research on other hominin species.
A study published in Nature reveals that Australopithecus sediba consumed between 95 and 100 percent forest-based foods, contradicting the assumption that early hominins ate a varied diet. This finding provides insight into the dietary habits of our ancestors and sheds light on why some species thrived while others became extinct.
Researchers have found a partial foot skeleton that belongs to an early human ancestor, distinct from Lucy's species and Ardipithecus ramidus. The Burtele foot shows unique characteristics, including an opposable great toe, suggesting the presence of multiple hominin species during the late Pliocene era.
The discovery of a partial foot skeleton from the Burtele hominin species has provided new insights into human evolution. The fossil's characteristics suggest that it was adept at moving around in trees and grasping items with ease. This finding adds complexity to our understanding of locomotion in human evolution.
The discovery of a 3.4 million-year-old foot fossil in Ethiopia confirms the coexistence of two human ancestor species with different locomotion methods. The analysis suggests that more than one species existed between 3 and 4 million years ago, challenging previous assumptions about human evolution.
Researchers describe the earliest complete fossil hominin hand post-dating stone tools, Australopithecus sediba's hand. The study reveals that it used its hand for arboreal locomotion but also showed human-like precision grips, a prerequisite for tool-making.
Researchers found that females preferred to disperse from their natal groups, similar to chimpanzees and human groups. The study suggests early hominins' social structure was not like that of gorillas.
Researchers used fossil finger ratios to estimate the social behavior of early humans and their extinct relatives. The study found that Neanderthals and early members of the human species had lower finger ratios, indicating high levels of prenatal androgens and competitiveness.
Researchers found bones bearing unambiguous evidence of stone tool use, including cut marks made while carving meat off the bone. The discovery provides the first evidence that Lucy's species, Australopithecus afarensis, used stone tools and consumed meat, shifting the known timeframe of a game-changing behaviour for our ancestors.
Researchers from Arizona State University analyzed fossilized animal bone fragments to find evidence of sharp-edged stones being used to remove flesh and marrow. This discovery pushes back the origins of technology and carnivory by 800,000 years.
A recent study has discovered evidence of early human tool-making activities in a 2-million-year-old grassland-dominated ecosystem. The researchers found well-preserved faunal remains and chemical analyses of ancient soils at the Kanjera South site, which reveal that hominins were active in open settings.
Researchers propose primate archaeology as a new field to study tool-use in humans and non-humans, integrating methods from both archaeology and primatology. This interdisciplinary approach aims to improve understanding of cognitive evolution and provide valuable data on human and non-human primate behavior.
The study analyzes the feet of Homo floresiensis, finding they had human-like and early hominin traits, with a primitive big toe and lack of arch, suggesting inefficient gait. This evidence supports the idea that Homo floresiensis was an isolated population of early hominins.
The study reveals that the Liujiang brain shares morphological features with modern humans, including a round shape and enlarged frontal lobes. The virtual endocast also shows a high brain capacity, suggesting a Late Homo sapiens classification.
Researchers have found that the ancient human 'Nutcracker Man' did not eat nuts, contrary to previous assumptions. The study used microscopy and fractal analysis to examine marks on the teeth of Paranthropus boisei, suggesting that dietary preferences were based on scarcity rather than a regular diet.
A recent study published in Science confirms that Homo floresiensis, also known as the 'hobbit', is a distinct human species. The research focuses on the unique wrist bones of the hobbit, which show striking similarities to those of African apes and early hominins.
Researchers assessed female participants carrying different types of loads, finding that evenly spread loads are more efficient than awkward ones. This study supports the theory that early hominins carried children to adapt to walking on two legs.
A symposium explores how climate change influenced brain development, tool use, and migration patterns of early humans. Leading scientists discuss the impact of glacial periods on human populations, with findings suggesting that water availability played a critical role in shaping human evolution.