Ancestry & Evolution
The desire to understand our origins is primal. By examining our DNA over successive generations through the evolutionary process of inherited characteristics of human and animal populations–as well as from those species from which humans share a common ancestry–we can decipher our individual and collective past and develop medical innovations for the future.
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Why do humans like to get high? Apes who spin themselves dizzy might offer clues
Great apes spinning behaviours could provide clues about the role of altered states for the origins of the human mind ...
Humans are ill equipped to handle freezing cold — so why do so many of us live in chilly climates?
Humans are a tropical species. We have lived in warm climates for most of our evolutionary history, which might explain ...
Dogs of Chernobyl: What exposure to chronic, low-level radiation does to a species
Dogs roam the ghost town of Pripyat within the Chernobyl exclusion zone in Ukraine. Scientists have identified genetically distinct populations ...
Why human brains aren’t cut out for modern workplaces
The modern workplace was not designed with the human brain in mind. This disconnect can make it difficult for us ...
Rethinking humanity’s origin story: Did all modern humans evolve from East Africa?
New evidence is prompting researchers to rethink Homo sapiens’ origin story—and what it means to be human ...
De-extinction: The Second Coming
Ten years ago it burst into mainstream popular life: the possibility of resurrecting extinct species ...
Neanderthals disappeared 40,000 years ago. What were they like?
What were Neanderthals really like—and why did they go extinct? These ancient hominids, who disappeared 40,000 years ago, were once ...
Homo futuris: How climate change shaped early human evolution — and how it might impact the future evolution of our species
Scientists know from the study of tree rings, layers of ice in glaciers, ocean sediments, coral reefs and sedimentary rocks ...
Understanding animal behavior: Researchers use artificial Intelligence (AI) to analyze animal brains
Scientists at the University of Michigan have developed an open-source, user-friendly, artificial intelligence driven software called LabGym that automatizes animal ...
Naked evolution: Why humans don’t have fur
Scientists don't definitively know the reason behind this change from thicker, coarser fur to these light vellus hairs, and they ...
How cousin marriages can wreak genetic havoc on children
The link between cousin marriages and genetic disorders in offspring is a growing problem in several countries ...
Podcast: Why modern-day animals are so much smaller than dinosaurs
Researchers think they understand how some dinosaurs grew so large. NPR's Eyder Peralta talks with Michael D'Emic, paleontologist at Adelphi ...
5 traits in modern humans that trace back to our distant ancestry
Many of us are returning to work or school after spending time with relatives over the summer period. Sometimes we ...
From a ‘chemical soup’ to complex life: Understanding the beginning of evolution of life on Earth
Did evolution occur before life even existed? New research illuminates the ancient processes from which the first life arose on ...
‘Animals are very smart, but not in the same way as us’: Explaining differences between human and animal intelligence
Why aren't animals as smart as humans? ASK A RESEARCHER: "Fire may have made human brains larger," researcher says ...
Are society’s biggest conflicts linked to our ‘inherent tribalism’?
Over the past several years, the conflicts we see around us — particularly political ones — are blamed on humanity’s ...
How might we adapt to fast-changing global temperatures? 2-million year old ‘environmental DNA’ offers clues
The reconstruction of a once-living landscape in northern Greenland from 2 million years ago, deduced from bits of DNA bound ...
Video: Is there such a thing as ‘backward evolution’? Turkish family that walks on all fours under study by scientists
The Ulas family live in rural southern Turkey. In total, 19 children live with their parents, seven of whom are ...
Podcast: ‘Adoption, Twins and the Genetics of Personality’ — Childhood adoption study informs nature vs nurture debate
Social scientists have long sought to better understand how and why different behavioral traits develop in different individuals. The question ...
2 million years: Oldest DNA ever discovered unearthed in plant and animal remains in Greenland
Genetic material from the elephant relative mastodon, cedar and spruce has now been discovered in a warmer Greenland of yore ...
Here’s how curly hair helped early humans survive
Tightly coiled locks protected our ancestors against the burning sun, scientists have revealed ...
Brains and sex: There are developmental, cognitive and maturation differences between boys and girls
Do differences in cognition reflect differences in brain connectivity between boys and girls in late childhood? ...
Do you find horses flighty, anxious or affable? Dozens of genes shape equine personalities — and are linked to traits in humans
Eighteen potential personality-related genes in horses have been identified by researchers in Japan. The efforts of Tamu Yokomori and his ...
‘Will you have sex with me?’ How evolution has shaped differences between male and female desire
Human sexual psychology evolved to cope with ancestral adaptive problems over millions of years. Males and females face different evolutionary ...
68% decline in animal populations? Journalists misreport Living Planet Index study. Here are the facts
The Living Planet Index is the biodiversity metric that always claims the headlines. It’s often misinterpreted. How should we understand ...
Sudan connection: Are Ethiopian Jews descendants of the ancient Israelites?
A broad suite of genetic and historical evidence points to an ancient Jewish heritage for Ethiopian Jews, contradicting established theory ...
Dog breeds do not always determine behavior: Inside the quest to recategorize dog lineages
Genetic studies of dogs have often found that breed does not determine a dog's behavior. New research suggests lineages, not ...
