history of paleoanthropology
Human evolution research has existed for more than 150 years, and the ideas of past scientists continue to shape our concepts and practices today.
The circumstances of the Taung discovery
The textbook story of the fossil leaves out a wider context in which scientists interpreted the first evidence of Australopithecus.
A look at the Maba hominin skull
Found in 1958, the skull is one of a handful of fossil hominins from southern China that may be connected with the Denisovans.
A look at the fossil skull from Steinheim
The skull provides some of the best evidence for the ancestral population of Neandertals, and had a tumultuous history in the decades after its discovery.
A sad end for the Journal of Human Evolution
A joint statement announces the resignation of the entire editorial board, while disclosing for the first time the use of AI in article production.
Did scientists miss a fake Neandertal for 25 years?
An investigation claims dozens of cases of misdated bones in Rheinland-Pfalz, including the purported Ochtendung Neandertal.
“Lucy”, superstar of evolution, at fifty
Today's science has broadened enormously since the 1970s but the iconic fossil still has an important place in understanding our ancient past.
What do we know about the ancestry of Homo erectus?
A creation interest group takes a quote from me, and I look back at a classic paper.
A remembrance of Frans de Waal
Among many highlights of this primatologist's work, he maintained that humans are not unique or separated from other primates.
Secrets within the teeth of the first Homo fossils
New studies of the enamel-dentin junction show that early members of our genus may have been less distinctive than we think
Lecture: Opening new frontiers in human origins
At a memorial for Richard Leakey, I shared some ideas about where technology and new discoveries will take paleoanthropology over the next decade.
