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Athletic evolution: Comparing modern athletes to ancestral warriors

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Scholars have long argued that Neanderthal weapons were too hefty to hurl and, therefore, had to be thrust directly into ...
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Human brains have been shrinking since the Stone Age. We don’t know why

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It’s something of a well-known secret among anthropologists: Based on measurements of skulls, the average brain volume of Homo sapiens ...
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How the evolution of our ability to run marathons ‘made us human’

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Let’s call it the “running made us human” hypothesis: According to some scientists, distance running was key to our ancestors’ ...
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Evolutionary riddle: Why humans have breasts?

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Over the years, researchers have proposed a number of explanations for human breasts. Some claimed evolution favored “pendulous” breasts — as scientists ...
2-26-2019 neanderthal dna still runs in our genomes complicating the story of our origins

Were Neanderthals doomed by their inbreeding?

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Mounting evidence suggests Neanderthals also had a habit of inbreeding, or conceiving with close relatives. Several studies have now reported ...
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Ancient African DNA reveals insights before slavery, colonialism

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[B]ones between 5,000 and 15,000 years old — surrounding the start of the Holocene, our current geologic epoch — can ...
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Why does human skin color have so much variation?

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Human skin color reflects an evolutionary balancing act tens of thousands of years in the making. There’s a convincing explanation ...
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Did Neanderthals have their own language?

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Did Neanderthals have language? Before trying to answer that, I should admit my bias: I’m team Neanderthal. As an anthropologist ...
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DNA of God: Did humans evolve a need for religion?

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[H]ow does evolution explain religion? Leading scholars propose a two-phase hypothesis (here, here): First, our ancestors evolved certain mental abilities, useful ...
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Molecular clocks rewriting the story of human evolution

Genetic Literacy Project | 
Analyzing DNA from present-day and ancient genomes provides a complementary approach for dating evolutionary events. By comparing DNA sequences, geneticists ...
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