human evolution

  1. Jovialis

    Step forward in understanding human feet

    Scientists have made a step forward in understanding the evolution of human feet. Unlike species such as chimpanzees, which have opposable digits on their feet, humans have evolved arched feet to enhance upright walking. These arches were thought to be supported by plantar intrinsic muscles...
  2. R

    Did civilization emerge from gene-culture co-evolution beginning with Agriculture?

    The ancient West Eurasian populations of the Fertile Crescent were the first to invent/discover agriculture (Levant Natufians, Zagros Iranians, Anatolians). They homogenized around the Bronze Age and then spread across West Eurasia, with farmers from Anatolia spread westward into Europe; farmers...
  3. Jovialis

    The surprising role cheese played in human evolution

    I recently went to a food and wine tasting event at the new Eataly in downtown Manhattan. The cheese stations were simply amazing, as was all of the food. I bought myself a wheel of this amazing limited edition creamy cheese I sampled there (several times). I forget the name of it, but I believe...
  4. Jovialis

    Did Our Species Evolve in Subdivided Populations across Africa, & Why Does It Matter?

    Did Our Species Evolve in Subdivided Populations across Africa, & Why Does It Matter? Highlights The view that Homo sapiens evolved from a single region/population within Africa has been given primacy in studies of human evolution. However, developments across multiple fields show that...
  5. Jovialis

    Eating bone marrow played a key role in the evolution of the human hand

    The strength required to access the high calorie content of bone marrow may have played a key role in the evolution of the human hand and explain why primates hands are not like ours, research at the University of Kent has found. In an article in The Journal of Human Evolution, a team lead by...
  6. Jovialis

    Evolution Improved ape genome assemblies provide new insights into human evolution

    New, higher-quality assemblies of great ape genomes have now been generated without the guidance of the human reference genome. The effort to reduce "humanizing" discovery bias in great ape genomes provides a clearer view of the genetic differences that arose as humans diverged from other...
  7. Jovialis

    Animals Teeth dating back 2 million years reveal details on ancient Africa's climate

    New research out of South Africa's Wonderwerk Cave led by anthropologists at the University of Toronto (U of T) shows that the climate of the interior of southern Africa almost two million years ago was like no modern African environment—it was much wetter. In a paper published in Nature...
  8. Jovialis

    How human brains became so big

    The human brain is disproportionately large. And while abundant grey matter confers certain intellectual advantages, sustaining a big brain is costly—consuming a fifth of energy in the human body. It is an oddity that has long flummoxed scientists: while most organisms thrive with small brains...
  9. Jovialis

    Why expressive brows might have mattered in human evolution

    Highly mobile eyebrows that can be used to express a wide range of subtle emotions may have played a crucial role in human survival, new research from the University of York suggests. Like the antlers on a stag, a pronounced brow ridge was a permanent signal of dominance and aggression in our...
  10. Jovialis

    Top 5 Human Evolution Discoveries of 2017

    The above list seems to be solely on discoveries pertaining to before modern Humans. Nevertheless, if I could compose a top-5 list based on my favorite papers from 2017, it would be this: Here it is in chronological order: Ancient Egyptian mummy genomes suggest an increase of Sub-Saharan...
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