Human and chimpanzee genomes are more than 98% identical, and the genes themselves barely differ. The changes that make us ...

A study of 225 newborns suggests prenatal estrogen may have played a role in the evolution of larger human brains. Boys with finger-length patterns linked to higher estrogen exposure before birth ...

A craving for sweets may have helped set the stage for the evolution of the human brain. Over 4 million years, our lineage’s brains grew from about 300 grams to 1,500 grams. Much of the brain growth ...

An international study changes the view that exposure to the toxic metal lead is largely a post-industrial phenomenon. The research reveals that our human ancestors were periodically exposed to lead ...

Fossils unearthed in Ethiopia are reshaping our view of human evolution. Instead of a straight march from ape-like ancestors to modern humans, researchers now see a tangled, branching tree with ...

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 ...

South Africa has one of the world’s richest fossil records of hominins (humans and their fossil ancestors). But many misconceptions still exist regarding human evolution, and school textbooks contain ...