The Leakey Foundation

01.28.19

The Diversity of Rural African Populations Extends to Microbiomes

Our microbiome, the complex community of bacteria, fungi, parasites, and other microorganisms in and on our bodies, reflects the way we live. Most microbiome analyses have focused on people living in developed nations, but in the last several years, scientists have begun to investigate whether people in non-industrialized societies possess distinctly different microbiomes and, if so, what factors shape those differences.

01.25.19

Understanding Australopithecus sediba

Journal Article

Now, 10 years later after the discovery of Malapa, full descriptions of the Australopithecus sediba fossil material, as well as raw measurement data and surface scans of the fossils which are available at Morphosource.org, have been published in a special issue of the open access journal, PaleoAnthropology.

01.24.19

Human Respiratory Viruses Continue to Spread in Wild Chimpanzees

Journal Article

Less than two years after the first report of wild chimpanzees in Uganda dying as a result of a human “common cold” virus, a new study has identified two other respiratory viruses of human origin in chimpanzee groups in the same forest.

01.15.19

2.4 Million Year Old Stone Tools Found in North Africa

Journal Article

When did early humans first arrive in the Mediterranean? New archaeological evidence published in the journal Science and funded in part by The Leakey Foundation indicates their presence in North Africa at least 2.4 million years ago.

12.28.18

What Teeth Can Tell Us About Ancient Humans and Neanderthals

Journal Article

Teeth are a really useful indicator of past environments. This is possible because teeth have biological rhythms and key events get locked inside them. These faithful internal clocks run night and day, year after year, and include daily growth lines and a marked line formed at birth.