For years, the dominant explanation for human evolution suggested that modern humans descended from a single ancestral population in Africa. While scientists have long agreed that Homo sapiens ...

The study of human origins provides a fundamental narrative for our biological and cultural evolution. By combining fossil evidence with archaeological and palaeoenvironmental data, we can trace the ...

In pursuit of knowledge, the evolution of humanity ranks with the origins of life and the universe. And yet, except when an exciting find hits the headlines, paleoanthropology and its related fields ...

Natural selection has long been considered the driving force behind human evolution. But a landmark study of 87 fossil skulls spanning the past two million years suggests the story is far more complex ...

Smithsonian paleoanthropologists explore how the year brought us closer to understanding ancient human relatives and origins Ryan McRae and Briana Pobiner A young chimpanzee looks on during an outing ...

A stunning fossil discovery in Ethiopia shows that early Homo and a previously unknown Australopithecus species lived together around 2.6 to 2.8 million years ago. The find overturns the classic ...

Tool-assisted foraging may have been the impetus for the earliest beginning of the evolution of cumulative culture. Early hominins, 3.4 to 2 million years ago, likely relied on foraging strategies ...

For two decades, scientists have thought that early modern humans (Homo sapiens) descended from a single lineage. But new genetic research suggests that our origins are far more complex. Scientists ...

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Lucy, a fossilized ...

See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Fifty years ago, a remarkable fossil was unearthed in the Afar Rift ...

Every once in a great while paleontological fieldwork turns up a fossil so extraordinary that it revolutionizes our understanding of the origin and evolution of an entire branch of the tree of life.

An astonishing array of fossil skull replicas illustrates human evolution in a central display at the crossroads of the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins at the Smithsonian National Museum of ...