Almost 2 million years ago, a young ancient human died beside a spring near a lake in what is now Tanzania, in eastern Africa. After archaeologists uncovered his fossilized bones in 1960, they used ...

Could a Moroccan cave hold a crucial piece of the puzzle of human origins? Hominin fossils dating back 773,000 years discovered in the country are bringing new evidence to the debate about the last ...

The fragmentary facial bones belong to Homo affinis erectus, an esoteric offshoot of our family tree that inhabited Spain more than one million years ago. Reading time 4 minutes Most of a human face ...

Two skulls from Yunxian, in northern China, aren’t ancestors of Denisovans after all; they’re actually the oldest known Homo erectus fossils in eastern Asia. A recent study has re-dated the skulls to ...

Scientists have reconstructed the head of an ancient human relative from 1.5 million year-old fossilized bones and teeth. But the face staring back is complicating scientists' understanding of early ...

Someone made very sophisticated wooden tools in China 300,000 years ago, and it might have been Denisovans or even Homo erectus. The digging sticks, curved root-slicers, and a handful of somewhat ...

Scientists have digitally reconstructed the face of a 1.5-million-year-old Homo erectus fossil from Ethiopia, uncovering an unexpectedly primitive appearance. While its braincase fits with classic ...

An international research team has unveiled a significant discovery in human paleontology: an exceptionally well-preserved Homo habilis skeleton dating back more than 2 million years. The fossil, ...

A million years ago, a species known as Homo erectus most likely survived in an arid desert with no trees. By Carl Zimmer Chimpanzees live only in African rainforests and woodlands. Orangutans live ...

New evidence reveals Homo erectus mastered survival in Tanzania’s ancient deserts, proving they were adaptable generalists long before modern humans emerged. Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Image Credit: t.m ...