All Articles Tagged As: hominids

'Hobbits' are a new human species - according to the statistical analysis of fossils (11/22/2009)

Researchers from Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York have confirmed that Homo floresiensis is a genuine ancient human species and not a descendant of healthy humans dwarfed by disease. Using statistical analysis on skeletal remains of a well-preserved female specimen, researchers determined the "hobbit" to be a distinct species and not a genetically flawed version of modern humans. Details of the study appear in the December issue of Significance, the magazine of the Royal Statistical Society, published by Wiley-Blackwell. ...> Full Article

Early hominid first walked on 2 legs in the woods (10/11/2009)

Among the many surprises associated with the discovery of the oldest known, nearly complete skeleton of a hominid is the finding that this species took its first steps toward bipedalism not on the open, grassy savanna, as generations of scientists -- going back to Charles Darwin -- hypothesized, but in a wooded landscape. ...> Full Article

Oldest hominid skeleton provides new evidence for human evolution (10/3/2009)

A Los Alamos National Laboratory geologist is part of an international research team responsible for discovering the oldest nearly intact skeleton of Ardipithecus ramidus, who lived 4.4 million years ago. The discovery reveals the biology of the first stage of human evolution better than anything seen to date. ...> Full Article

The last meal of the hominids establishes the times they lived at the sites (7/17/2009)

In the French cave of Arago, an international team of scientists has analyzed the dental wear of the fossils of herbivorous animals hunted by Homo heidelbergensis. It is the first time that an analytical method has allowed the establishment of the length of human occupations at archaeological sites. The key is the last food that these hominids consumed. ...> Full Article

Researchers describe a new hominid (6/4/2009)

Light on the phylogenetic and geographic origin of our family, the Hominidae ...> Full Article

1.5 million-year-old fossil humans walked on modern feet (2/27/2009)

Footprints found at Ileret, Kenya, display anatomically modern features ...> Full Article

Anthropologist's studies of childbirth bring new focus on women in evolution (2/20/2009)

Contrary to the TV sitcom where the wife experiencing strong labor pains screams at her husband to stay away from her, women rarely give birth alone. Assisted birth has likely been around for millennia, possibly dating as far back as 5 million years ago when our ancestors first began walking upright, according to University of Delaware paleoanthropologist Karen Rosenberg. She says that social assistance during childbirth is just one aspect of our evolutionary heritage that makes us distinctive as humans. ...> Full Article

High-tech tests allow anthropologists to track ancient hominids across the landscape (2/18/2009)

Dazzling new scientific techniques are allowing archaeologists to track the movements and menus of extinct hominids through the seasons and years as they ate their way across the African landscape, helping to illuminate the evolution of human diets. ...> Full Article