Oldest Ever Human Genetic Evidence Retrieved from 800,000-Year-Old Fossil
An important advancement in human evolution studies has been achieved after scientists retrieved the oldest human genetic data set from an 800,000-year-old tooth belonging to the hominin species Homo antecessor.
Grantee Spotlight: Harmonie Klein
Harmonie Klein is a PhD candidate studying hunting and meat sharing among wild chimpanzees in Gabon. This community of chimpanzees is newly habituated to human presence and Klein is learning a lot about their cooperative behaviors.
Female Chimps with Powerful Moms Are Less Likely to Leave Home
Chimps are unusual among mammals in that daughters, not sons, typically pick up their roots at puberty and move away from their families. But in Gombe National Park, some chimpanzee females stay put instead of moving out.
Grantee Spotlight: Mareike Janiak
What makes humans such "adaptable" and flexible creatures, especially when it comes to what we eat? Primates, in general, can survive on a wide variety of foods, but there are also a lot of species with a range of really specialized diets, like those focused on insects, leaves, or fruit, and all of these foods have different challenges when it comes to digesting them. Mareike Janiak's research is focused on understanding how the species in these different dietary niches have adapted to digesting their foods.
A Tiny Bone from Little Foot’s Skeleton Adds Fresh Insights into What Our Ancestors Could Do
New research on an Australopithecus fossil called "Little Foot" helps us better understand how these ancient hominins lived. The findings suggest that this specimen could climb and move in trees as well as on the ground.