#Lucy is one of the most famous fossils in #paleoanthropology. Discovered in 1974 in #Ethiopia, she is a partial skeleton of an early #hominin species, #Australopithecus afarensis, dating back around 3.2 million years. Her anatomy reveals a mix of ape-and human-like traits, providing crucial insights into the evolutionary path that led to modern #humans. I was lucky enough to see her replica at the #SenckenbergMuseum in #Frankfurt:

🌍 https://www.fabriziomusacchio.com/weekend_stories/told/2026/2026-05-17_lucy

#WeekendStories #history #Museum

The ancient environment of #hominin ancestors as evidenced in fossil teeth. (And it's not dry savannah!)

https://theconversation.com/ancient-teeth-reveal-clues-to-the-environment-humans-early-ancestors-evolved-in-millions-of-years-ago-279544?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=bylinetwitterbutton

#Paranthropus 2.6 MA in Ethiopia
'found more than 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) farther north than any other fossil of its kind.
"Until now, not a single fossil of Paranthropus had been identified" in the Afar region of Ethiopia,'

#fossils #evolution #hominin

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/human-evolution/2-6-million-year-old-jaw-from-extinct-nutcracker-man-is-found-where-we-didnt-expect-it

26-Nov-2025
New research by ASU paleoanthropologists gives valuable insight into how two ancient human ancestors coexisted in the same area
They assign a #hominin foot #fossil from #Lucy’s time to a different species – with help from teeth

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1107105

#science #palaeoanthropology #humanEvolution

Archaeologist John Shea on shifts of #lithics technology and #hominin survival strategies: at 3.4 MA, 1.7 MA and 300,000 years

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/arcm.70056?fbclid=IwVERFWAOENopleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEes3OCQtZ9_0qDqGx6Nm0viq5h_aWrEUmWv2b-cuZ6A2DouYJ-YYWsh7ZoqO4_aem_TqDSMcfRQCGpqOr7HcQqNg

And here on #Ardipithecus ankles -- the truly transitional early #hominin, still ape-like and climbing with grasping foot but also #bipedal

https://phys.org/news/2025-10-analysis-million-year-ankle-exposes.html

Mystery hominin skull discovered in 1960 dated to at least 286,000 years old

A mystery in human evolution may be close to being solved, thanks to a new study by the Institut de Paléontologie Humaine in France. A nearly complete cranium discovered in 1960 inside the Petralona Cave in northern Greece has defied all efforts at identification and precise dating for several decades...

More info: https://archaeologymag.com/2025/08/petralona-skull-discovered-in-1960/

Follow @archaeology

#archaeology #HumanEvolution #hominin #anthropology

Evolution of #hominin #bipedalism in two steps

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09399-9

New article out today in #Scientific #Data: Lewandowski et al. (2025) present the #Apemen #Faces #Database (#ApeFD)!
620 #hominin faces, with #morphometric data + "vibe check" (#threat, #sociability, #trustworthiness... you name it).

Researchers can use this #open dataset to explore questions on #ocular #morphology, social perception, facial morphology, and even applications in cross-disciplinary fields such as #primatology, #cultural #anthropology, and media studies. Go wild, use it in your research, and e-mail us if you have any questions! :D

🔗 Article: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05813-z
🔗 Dataset: https://doi.org/10.18150/L2RHIA

John Hawks here on the #footprints showing different #hominin species strolling along past each other on the shores of #KoobiFora1.5 MA

'A trackway and three isolated prints from Koobi Fora, Kenya, around 1.5 million years old, look to have been made by two different species. The research team who analyzed the prints, led by Kevin Hatala, determined that the trackway was likely made by a large Paranthropus boisei individual, while two or three smaller Homo individuals probably made the isolated prints on the same ancient surface.'

https://www.johnhawks.net/p/when-hominins-walked-in-each-others-tracks