Human evolution is not a straight line but a complex branching tree shared with other great apes. This overview explains the ...

Homo sapiens has existed for at least 300,000 years, but its exact origin is still unknown. Some theories say that it evolved in East Africa about 50,000 years ago and expanded southwards, but now a ...

That could place the ancestors of Homo sapiens—modern humans—outside Africa, an idea which flips everything palaeontologists ...

It seems that southern Africa provided an ecological refuge where people adapted successfully for more than 200,000 years – without other hunter-gatherer groups coming in from elsewhere.

National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek is retracing the path of human migration. More specifically, the scientific ...

Tiny genetic variations between humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans might not be all they were cracked up to be.

When studying how fossil hominids moved, researchers usually analyze the morphology of bones—which is crucial for ...

Important, previously unrecognized genetic changes common to all ancient and modern Homo sapiens spread in Africa more than 300,000 years ago, a new study finds. After that, the same investigation ...

New fossil evidence from China points to a possible new branch of humanity—Homo juluensis. Combining primitive traits with surprisingly modern features, this species could bridge the gap between Homo ...

Scientists have discovered the oldest-known evidence of fire-making by prehistoric humans in the English county of Suffolk - ...

As Neanderthals had dominated Europe for hundreds of thousands of years, the arrival of Homo sapiens 45,000 years ago marked the beginning of their sudden disappearance. The causes of this extinction ...