News

Tanner Kovach is a Leakey Foundation grantee whose research explores how Neanderthals and Homo sapiens adapted to their environments and interacted during a key moment in human history.

Myra Laird, a Leakey Foundation grantee and assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, investigates how tiny scratches and pits on primate teeth form as they eat. By studying four living primate species, she is uncovering how tooth shape and food interact to create dental microwear patterns, providing new insights into fossil hominin diets and human oral health.

New Leakey Foundation-supported research finds that ancient human relatives sourced raw materials for tool-making from as far as 8 miles away.

Leakey Foundation grantee Daniel García Martínez investigates 300,000-400,000-year-old fossils in Spain to learn about early human behavior and tool use.

Stone tools dating to at least 1.04 million years ago have been found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. This means early hominins made a major sea crossing from the Asian mainland much earlier than previously thought – and they likely didn’t have any boats.

René Bobe is a Leakey Foundation grantee and recipient of the 2025 Gordon P. Getty Award. His research examines the relationship between climate and evolution, with a focus on the environments and ecology of human origins in Africa.

Scientists long thought that Neanderthals were avid meat eaters. New research suggests their diet had a secret ingredient: maggots.

Claire Kirchhoff, a Leakey Foundation grantee and professor at Marquette University, studies baboon skeletons from Gombe National Park to explore how bones reflect behavior, health, and social life.

How much time did our ancestors spend in trees? A new study on savannah-living chimpanzees could help answer questions about the origins of upright walking.

Babalola Jacobs is a Leakey Foundation Baldwin Fellow and PhD student from Nigeria who studies how early humans adapted to climate change in West Africa.