Tag

Anthropology

All articles tagged with #anthropology

science3 days ago•13 min saved

Neanderthal romance debunked by DNA, archaeology says

A new analysis cautions that the uneven distribution of Neanderthal DNA in modern humans cannot prove romantic attraction or social life between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. The proposed 'partner preference' is a possible, not definitive, explanation, with biology, migration, and sex-biased demography also at play. Archaeology from El Sidrón suggests female mobility (patrilocality), while Goyet hints at violence or cannibalism, showing that social structures can shape genetic signals. Overall, genetics alone can’t reconstruct Neanderthal society and must be interpreted alongside archaeological and anthropological context.

via ScienceDaily|

#anthropology #archaeology #genetics

science10 days ago•5 min saved

Egypt’s 17-Million-Year-Old Ape Fossil Reframes the Origins of Modern Apes

Scientists describe Masripithecus moghraensis, a new Early Miocene ape from Wadi Moghra, Egypt—the first definite North African ape—reconciling a geographic gap and suggesting North Africa was a key cradle for crown Hominoidea. The jaw shows a versatile, fruit-based diet with the ability to process harder foods. Bayesian analyses place Masripithecus closer to living apes than East African Miocene apes, positioning North Africa/Middle East as the likely home of the common ancestor of all living apes and highlighting the region as a corridor for dispersal into Europe and Asia. More fossils from the area could further illuminate ape origins.

via SciTechDaily|

#anthropology #evolution #miocene

anthropology14 days ago•8 min saved

Northwestern Europe’s Neanderthals Revealed as a Connected Regional Population, DNA Study Finds

A Nature study sequenced 27 Neanderthals from Belgium and France (plus a high-quality genome from a 45,000-year-old Goyet Cave individual) and found that late Neanderthals in northwestern Europe formed a connected regional population with close ties across the region. Belgian specimens show no signs of mating among close relatives, and none of the Neanderthal genomes carry recent human DNA, suggesting asymmetry with modern humans. There is no evidence that harmful mutations accumulated over time, indicating extinction was not simply due to genetic deterioration; the final chapter of Neanderthal life in this region remains open, highlighting regional diversity and connectivity prior to their disappearance around 40,000 years ago.

via Sci.News|

#ancient-dna #anthropology #belgium-france

anthropology17 days ago•9 min saved

Late-Stage Size Jump in Homo Rewrites Hominin Growth Story

A University of Reading-led analysis of 386 fossil specimens across 21 hominin species used phylogenetically informed models to test how body size evolved. Contrary to a simple, steady increase, the data point to a major size jump late in the genus Homo, with Homo ergaster/erectus reaching ~60 kg on average and aligning with other shifts like increased bipedality and carnivory. Small-bodied lineages such as Homo floresiensis and Homo naledi remain exceptions, and any gradual, across-the-board size rise is only moderately supported and sensitive to dataset and methods. The study highlights a mosaic pattern of body-size evolution rather than a single upward trend.

via Sci.News|

#anthropology #body-size-evolution #hominin

science20 days ago•6 min saved

Culture May Be Rewriting Human Evolution Beyond Our Genes

New research argues that culture and technology are now the dominant forces shaping human evolution, reducing selective pressure on genes as innovations solve biological challenges faster than genetic change can, with potential long-term implications for health, society, and how we think about our species’ future.

via ScienceAlert|

#anthropology #culture #evolution

anthropology24 days ago•25 min saved

Near Oceania’s Ancient Genome: Denisovan Heritage Deep in Pacific DNA

Researchers sequenced 177 high-coverage genomes from 12 Near Oceanian populations and found that this region harbors some of the oldest human DNA, including a rich Denisovan legacy from at least three Denisovan-like groups. Near Oceanian genomes contain about 2.5 times more archaic DNA than Europeans and far more Denisovan DNA than East Asians, with high-frequency archaic variants linked to immunity and skeletal development, suggesting multiple interbreeding events and adaptive benefits. The findings reshape our understanding of Denisovans and human evolution and have implications for medical research in Oceanian populations.

via ZME Science|

#anthropology #archaic-dna #denisovan

science1 month ago•6 min saved

Two-Epoch Evolution Forged Humanity's Right-Hand Bias, New Study Finds

A cross-species meta-analysis of 41 primate species shows human right-handedness likely arose in two stages: first with the shift to bipedalism freeing the hands, then with brain enlargement and cultural factors that strengthened the bias, with Homo sapiens and Neanderthals showing the strongest right-handedness while earlier hominins were weaker; brain size and limb proportions emerge as key predictors. Published in PLOS Biology (2026).

via ScienceAlert|

#anthropology #evolution #handedness

science1 month ago•7 min saved

Why Humans Sleep Less: An Evolutionary Trade-Off Behind the Sleep Paradox

Anthropologist David R. Samson argues that humans biologically need about 9.5 hours of sleep but typically get under seven, because ancestral shifts from tree to ground sleeping favored short, deep, REM-rich bouts that free time for foraging, social learning and tool use. Drawing on chimpanzee nest-building and fieldwork with the Hadza and BaYaka, the book frames nest-building as a cognitive catalyst in primate evolution, while highlighting sleep’s broad importance to health and cognition and noting some gaps in the comparison to other species.

via Nature|

#anthropology #human-evolution #neuroscience

science2 months ago•3 min saved

Early Homo Meat-Eating Was a Mixed Strategy, New Fossil Evidence Shows

A 1.6-million-year-old fossil assemblage from Koobi Fora, Kenya shows early Homo used a mixed strategy to access meat—both scavenging and hunting—transporting the meatiest parts for processing and later breaking bones for marrow, suggesting meat consumption evolved gradually in response to ecological conditions.

via Gizmodo|

#anthropology #archaeology #early-humans

science2 months ago•2 min saved

Neanderthal Babies Were Bigger and Grew Faster Than Modern Humans

A six‑month‑old Neanderthal infant from a cave in northern Israel (about 51,000–56,000 years old) was larger and grew faster than modern human babies; despite thick bones and a large skull suggesting advanced maturity, tooth histology showed a younger age, pointing to accelerated growth and higher energy expenditure in Neanderthals and highlighting differences in development alongside evidence of interbreeding with Homo sapiens.

via Futurism|

#anthropology #human-evolution #infant-growth

science2 months ago•33 min saved

Neanderthal Infants Were Bigger and Grew Faster Than Modern Humans

A study of a six-month-old Neanderthal infant found in a northern Israel cave suggests Neanderthals had larger, faster-growing babies with robust bones and rapid dental development, indicating different growth trajectories and higher energy expenditure compared to modern humans and underscoring the distinct biology of our extinct cousins.

via Yahoo|

#anthropology #growth #infants

science3 months ago•6 min saved

Culture Takes the Lead in Human Evolution

New research argues that culture and technology are now driving human evolution more than genetic changes, with cultural solutions rapidly solving problems and relaxing natural selection; evidence spans lactose tolerance, altered birth practices, and historical disease legacies, suggesting we’re in an evolutionary transition where cultural inheritance outpaces genes; some scientists warn this could require medical or technological interventions to offset potential fitness costs, while raising ethical questions about shaping biology.

via ScienceAlert|

#anthropology #culture #evolutionary-biology

science3 months ago•6 min saved

Digital Face of Little Foot Unearthed from a 3.67-Million-Year Skull

Scientists digitally reconstructed a stable facial model for Little Foot (StW 573) by modeling deformation from 3.67-million-year-old geological crushing and using high-resolution synchrotron X-ray scans, enabling quantitative facial comparisons with other Australopithecus fossils. The results show Little Foot’s facial structure more closely resembles East African specimens than South African ones, suggesting a more dynamic early hominin history than previously thought.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#3d-imaging #anthropology #australopithecus

science4 months ago•19 min saved

Listening for Stone-Age Voices: How Humans Learned to Talk

A BBC feature explains how scientists infer what early humans sounded like by examining fossil skulls, vocal‑tract anatomy and brain development, outlining two main theories of language origins (sudden symbolic thought vs gradual evolution) and tracing a timeline from primate vocal capacity 27 million years ago to Cro-Magnon speech ~30,000 years ago, suggesting Neanderthals could have spoken and that Homo sapiens eventually developed a full language-ready system, ending with a note on today’s thousands of languages and their fragility.

via BBC|

#anthropology #evolution #homo-sapiens

anthropology4 months ago•49 min saved

Sex-biased interbreeding left a lasting Neanderthal DNA pattern in modern humans

A genetic analysis comparing Neanderthal genomes with African references shows Neanderthals carried far more modern human DNA on their X chromosome than on other chromosomes, while modern humans have very little Neanderthal DNA on their X. The researchers argue that this pattern results from sex-biased interbreeding—likely Neanderthal males with modern human females—rather than widespread genetic incompatibility. Computer simulations using a mating bias reproduce the observed distribution, suggesting social/partner-choice factors shaped inheritance. The team plans to investigate population structure to determine which sex moved between groups and how cultural practices influenced mating in ancient encounters.

via Archaeology News Online Magazine|

#anthropology #dna #interbreeding