human evolution

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Africans Have Most Diverse DNA
Africans Have Most Diverse DNA
Feb 21, 2008 1:47 PM CST

Africans Have Most Diverse DNA

Testing confirms man evolved on continent before migrating

(Newser) - A pair of wide-ranging genetic studies, published yesterday in the journal Nature, back up the idea that humanity first evolved in Africa before migrating elsewhere, Reuters reports. DNA testing of African Americans and European Americans found that people with African roots had much more genetic diversity. Other tests discovered that...

Baby Blues Come From Single Ancestor

A long-ago genetic mutation diluted brown eyes, scientists say

(Newser) - All blue-eyed people have a single, shared ancestor, scientists say. And all those baby blues are the result of a genetic mutation that occurred between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago, LiveScience reports. Before that, everyone had brown eyes. The mutation limits the effects of the gene that produces...

Humans Evolving at Warp Speed
Humans Evolving
at Warp Speed
Dec 11, 2007 3:59 AM CST

Humans Evolving at Warp Speed

New research contradicts theory that easier life slowed development

(Newser) - The pace of human evolution switched to the fast track when people began forming agrarian societies 10,000 years ago, researchers have discovered. Scientists had theorized that evolution would slow as challenges to survival waned, but the opposite appears to be the case with changes occurring surprisingly quickly, the Los ...

Religion Remains Flashpoint With Huckabee

GOP candidate sounds off on creationism in schools, Romney's Mormon faith

(Newser) - A month before the Iowa caucuses, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee reacted with frustration when asked if creationism should be taught in public schools, the AP reports. Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister who has said he does not believe in Darwin's theory of evolution, said his personal views on religion...

Female Hunters May Have Doomed Neanderthals

Study says feminist practices put the 'reproductive core' in harm's way

(Newser) - "Stone Age feminism" may have contributed to the Neanderthals' extinction, says a recent study, which uses archaeological evidence to argue that Neanderthal females hunted—and were "stomped, gored, and worse"—alongside males. Pitting the "reproductive core" of a population that never topped 10,000 against giant...

'Hobbits' Were, Indeed, a Different Kind of Human

Wrist-bone analysis shows link to apes

(Newser) - A new study of three wrist bones from an 18,000-year-old fossil shows that the so-called hobbits of Indonesia were, indeed, a separate human species. When the bones were discovered in 2003, scientists trumpeted the find as evidence of a smaller species, Homo floresiensis. But skeptics argued that the hobbit,...

New Georgian Fossils May Link 'Lucy' and Homo Erectus

Less-evolved specimens in Europe indicate earlier emigration from Africa

(Newser) - Archaeologists have unearthed four fossilized skeletons of a human ancestor that shares characteristics with the humanesque Homo erectus and the earlier, smaller Australopithicus afarensis, of which the famous 'Lucy' skeleton is a member. The fossils in the republic of Georgia contradict the previously held idea that hominids developed all key...

Lucy Debuts in Houston
Lucy Debuts
in Houston
Aug 29, 2007 5:20 AM CDT

Lucy Debuts in Houston

But dem bones ain't made for traveling, say scientists

(Newser) - Lucy kicks off her public debut  at the Houston Museum of Natural Science tomorrow amid controversy that the world's favorite human ancestor should never have left her home in Ethiopia. The public wants the chance to the 3.2 million-year-old remains, but scientists say Lucy's too fragile to travel.

Women Have Been Falling for Brad Pitt Types for 2.6M Years

Rules of attraction haven't changed much

(Newser) - The facial proportions of the average hot guy haven't changed much throughout human  evolutionary history, finds a new study that compares contemporary human skulls with skulls from 2.6 million years ago. Women have been selecting for males with short, broad faces—think Brad Pitt and Will Smith—since the...

Girls Think Pink, Naturally, Study Finds

Women's attraction to redder hues linked to evolution

(Newser) - Shocking news: Girls love pink. That love might not just be cultural—but linked to evolutionary development, researchers  in a new study have concluded. Pink may have helped ancient women recognize ripe fruit and healthy men with ruddy faces, while both genders yearned for the blue of open skies and...

Kenyan Fossil Rattles Human Family Tree

Skull suggests two precursors were actually concurrent

(Newser) - Two of our ancestors apparently lived alongside each other in Africa rather than evolving from one to the next on the path to Homo sapiens, as scientists once believed. National Geographic reports that a Homo habilis skull dug up in Kenya is surprisingly young, making its 1.4 million-year-old owner...

Orangutans Play Charades
Orangutans Play Charades
Aug 2, 2007 9:24 AM CDT

Orangutans Play Charades

Apes pay attention to whether they are being understood

(Newser) - Orangutan communication works just like a game of charades, according to new research. Orangs and other apes who use signals to communicate what they want pay careful attention to whether their audience understands their gestures—if something works, they repeat it, and if they aren't getting through they try another...

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