Bridget Alex
Articles written for the GLP list the source as Genetic Literacy Project. All other articles were written for the sources noted with excerpts provided by the GLP.
Human brains have been shrinking since the Stone Age. We don’t know why
It’s something of a well-known secret among anthropologists: Based on measurements of skulls, the average brain volume of Homo sapiens has reportedly decreased by roughly ...
How the evolution of our ability to run marathons ‘made us human’
Let’s call it the “running made us human” hypothesis: According to some scientists, distance running was key to our ancestors’ ...
Evolutionary riddle: Why humans have breasts?
Over the years, researchers have proposed a number of explanations for human breasts. Some claimed evolution favored “pendulous” breasts — as scientists ...
Were Neanderthals doomed by their inbreeding?
Mounting evidence suggests Neanderthals also had a habit of inbreeding, or conceiving with close relatives. Several studies have now reported ...
Ancient African DNA reveals insights before slavery, colonialism
[B]ones between 5,000 and 15,000 years old — surrounding the start of the Holocene, our current geologic epoch — can ...
Why does human skin color have so much variation?
Human skin color reflects an evolutionary balancing act tens of thousands of years in the making. There’s a convincing explanation ...
Did Neanderthals have their own language?
Did Neanderthals have language? Before trying to answer that, I should admit my bias: I’m team Neanderthal. As an anthropologist ...
DNA of God: Did humans evolve a need for religion?
[H]ow does evolution explain religion? Leading scholars propose a two-phase hypothesis (here, here): First, our ancestors evolved certain mental abilities, useful ...
Molecular clocks rewriting the story of human evolution
Analyzing DNA from present-day and ancient genomes provides a complementary approach for dating evolutionary events. By comparing DNA sequences, geneticists ...