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Zlatý kůň and the Neandertal heritage of first Europeans

A skull from Czechia represents an individual from one of the earliest European modern human populations to encounter Neandertals.

Zlatý kůň cranium with information
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Lecture: New mysteries of human origins

Looking at the new discoveries of the last decade and how have changed the questions we're asking about human origins.

Skulls of LB1, Ngandong 11, Omo 2, Kabwe, and DH1 and DH3 of Homo naledi
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Fossil profile: Sangiran 31 and the exceptionally thick skulls of Homo erectus

One of the thickest skulls in the hominin fossil record gives insight about the variation in this ancient species.

Sangiran 31 partial cranium with information
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Ancient genetic introgression between cave hyenas and spotted hyenas

Describing the results of genomic work by Michael Westbury and collaborators, including ancient hyena genomes from Eurasia and North America.

Spotted hyena on a dark background
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Brain-body allometry revisited across mammals

Reviewing a 2021 paper in Science Advances by J. B. Smaers and coworkers, which looks at brain-body allometry across mammals.

Skull of a tree shrew in the eye orbit of a human skull
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Fossil profile: U.W. 101-258 and humeral torsion

A humerus from the Dinaledi Chamber gives some insight into the behavior of Homo naledi.

U.W. 101-283 humerus illustration with information added
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Fossil profile: BOU-VP-16/1 and mortuary practice

A fossil from Bouri, Ethiopia, represents an individual whose skull was processed after his death.

BOU-VP-16/1 cranium with information
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Research highlight: Looking at what Darwin knew about primate relationships

I provide a context for Darwin's ideas about human and primate relationships and update Descent of Man with today's knowledge.

Notebook page from Darwin showing his proposal of primate phylogeny
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Research highlight: Accurate depiction of uncertainty in ancient DNA research: The case of Neandertal ancestry in Africa

An article in the Journal of Social Archaeology looking at how researchers shaped public perceptions of Neandertal DNA heritage in living people.

Cover page of "Accurate depiction of uncertainty in ancient DNA research"
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How the lives of mothers matter to offspring survival in wild primates

A paper by Matthew Zipple and coworkers finds that the survival of young primates depends on their mothers "well beyond the age of weaning".

Chimpanzee mother and infant
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A palimpsest of artifacts on a glacial landscape

A look at work by Lars Pilø and coworkers who have collected artifacts from a melting Norway glacier.

Four panels showing arrows with scales.
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Looking at the traces of wear on tools used by capuchin monkeys

Studying microscopic traces of wear on tools helps create a comparative body of data for early hominin use of tools.

A small capuchin monkey is holding a rock with one hand and using the other hand to hold a seed on a stone on the ground
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Research highlight: Making ancient DNA more ethical

I helped to draft a statement for the American Society of Human Genetics on responsible research on ancient DNA.

Research highlight: Making ancient DNA more ethical
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An update to the 23andMe ancestry algorithm, how it constructs a model of ancestral populations

A blog post from the company describes for beginners how ancestry inference works.

A train with boxcars rolling across an open landscape with clouds
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Why does ethical ancient DNA sampling seem so complicated?

Working with communities can be challenging but is essential to build a strong science of the past.

A DNA molecule sculpture in watercolor painting
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Research highlight: A look at the questions raised by Homo naledi

A chapter that presents some of the key topics shaping our continuing investigations of the Rising Star cave system.

Research highlight: A look at the questions raised by Homo naledi
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Research highlight: How the pandemic must change field research

A group of field scientists come together to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on our work.

Front page of article
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Research highlight: Sexual dimorphism in the relationship between the gut and pelvis

We test the notion that pelvis dimensions can yield accurate estimates of gut size in fossil hominins by looking at today's people.

A plot showing the inferior transverse outlet versus gut volume in men and women.
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Goat immunity modified by introgression during and after domestication

A new paper in Science Advances describes some of the evidence for selection on introgressed genes in goats.

Goat immunity modified by introgression during and after domestication
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Neandertals got 6% of their genomes from Africa

An analysis by Melissa Hubisz and coworkers finds that mtDNA is not all that Neandertals received from our African ancestors

A Banksy-style portrait of a Neandertal wearing a blazer
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The genetic ancestry of modern lions

A comparison of surviving populations of lions in Africa and India with extinct lions, including cave lions from Siberia and Yukon.

Lion with cub
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How much Neandertal DNA do today's African peoples have?

New research shows that today's populations in Africa have around one third the Neandertal ancestry as people in Eurasia.

Neandertal face with hand holding a spear
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The transition to Middle Stone Age from Acheulean did not make humans more deadly

Reading a meta-analysis of faunal data by Geoff Smith and coworkers that concludes that all Middle Pleistocene African peoples hunted the same prey animals.

A group of eland
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An enormous sample sheds light on the Denisovan ancestry of people in Iceland

Laurent Skov and coworkers have measured the very small amount of DNA shared within the Iceland population from Denisovan ancestry and they discuss several scenarios for how it may have gotten there.

An Iceland landscape with Northern Lights in the sky reflected in a lake
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Chicken ancient DNA and artificial selection during medieval times

A study on change in European chickens over time illuminates the challenge of studying selection in populations with immigration from other sources.

Chicken ancient DNA and artificial selection during medieval times
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How much have baboons and geladas hybridized during their evolution?

Examining a paper that uses Alu insertions as a probe for ancient reticulation in the papionin tree of relationships.

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There are no “anatomically modern” elephants. Why do we treat humans differently?

A quote from Phillip Tobias illustrates the strange way that we talk about human variation compared to other species.

Two adult elephants and one calf in black and white, with a black background
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Lecture: How Homo naledi matters to our origins

A lecture in 2020 covering some of the latest research and new questions arising from the Rising Star cave system.

John Hawks at a podium that is labeled with the CARTA logo
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Research highlight: Introducing a juvenile skeleton of Homo naledi

We put together excavation records, 3D imagery, and laboratory analysis of bones and teeth to understand the preservation of a skeleton from the Dinaledi Chamber.

Photo showing bones of DH7 in situ in Dinaledi Chamber excavation
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How old is the "early Homo sapiens" skull from Florisbad?

Introducing a new preprint in which I examine critically the evidence for a skull thought to be contemporary with Homo naledi.

Three skulls in oblique view