Human evolution is not a straight line but a complex branching tree shared with other great apes. This overview explains the distinction between hominids and hominins and traces the evolutionary ...

A living fossil fish just proved we've misunderstood a major chapter in the story of evolution. For decades, the coelacanth — an ancient fish species that first appeared 400 million years ago — was ...

A fish thought to be evolution’s time capsule just surprised scientists. A detailed dissection of the coelacanth — a 400-million-year-old species often called a “living fossil” — revealed that key ...

Modern humans emerged roughly 300,000 years ago, but our genus Homo is much older. So what's the oldest human species on record? When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate ...

A 146,000-year-old skull recovered near Harbin, China, by scientists decades ago has now been found to belong to the Denisovans, an extinct relation to modern humans who lived in Siberia and East Asia ...

A study published in the Nature journal alters how the evolution of fish has been historically understood. Fossilized fish and other sea creatures have often been pivotal in new scientific discoveries ...

Researchers at the University of Maine are theorizing that human beings may be in the midst of a major evolutionary shift—driven not by genes, but by culture. "Human evolution seems to be changing ...

Two new studies add to the evidence that human activity, from fishing to urban development, is driving the evolution of wild animals. By Emily Anthes Call it the case of the incredible shrinking cod.

A paper in Molecular Biology and Evolution finds that the relatively high rate of autism-spectrum disorders in humans is likely due to how humans evolved in the past. The paper is titled "A general ...

A mystery that started with the discovery of a pinkie finger bone in Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia may finally have been cracked.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be the result of millions of years of evolution. Rapid neuronal evolution in humans is likely ASD’s genetic cause, new research suggests. Though autism can cause ...

The sea lamprey looks like it’s from another planet, but this ancient creature has a surprising amount in common with humans Olivia Ferrari Sea lampreys have large neurons and synapses, making them ...