michaelDec 1

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

New research by ASU paleoanthropologists gives valuable insight into how two ancient human ancestors coexisted in the same area

With the help of newly identified bones, an enigmatic 3.4-million-year-old hominin foot found in 2009, is assigned to a species different from that of the famous fossil Lucy providing further proof that two ancient species of hominins co-existed at the same time and in the same region.

EurekAlert!
Radical AnthropologyNov 15

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

Radical AnthropologyOct 16

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

Analysis of 4.4-million-year-old ankle exposes how earliest ancestors moved and evolved

For more than a century, scientists have been piecing together the puzzle of human evolution, examining fossil evidence to understand the transition from our earliest ancestors to modern humans.

Phys.org
Archaeology News Sep 1

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

Radical AnthropologyAug 27

Evolution of #hominin #bipedalism in two steps

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

The evolution of hominin bipedalism in two steps - Nature

The human pelvis exhibits distinct spatiotemporal ossification patterns and an ilium cartilage growth plate that is shifted perpendicularly compared with those of other mammals and non-human primates—two key adaptations that underlie bipedalism.

Nature
Anna SzalaAug 21

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

Radical AnthropologyAug 13

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

Footprints of two hominin species hours apart on the same shoreline

A new study by Kevin Hatala and coworkers finds that Homo erectus and Paranthropus boisei walked on the same shores within hours of each other.

John Hawks
michaelJun 20, 2025

18-Jun-2025
Research confirms that a nearly complete #hominin skull discovered near Harbin belongs to the #Denisovan lineage. It dates back to at least 146,000 years ago.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1087905

#science #anthropology #palaeoAnthropology #humans #fossils

Key evidence links Harbin individual’s nearly complete skull to a Denisovan

“What Denisovans looked like, despite their genetic contributions to present-day East Asians and Oceanians?” This is one of the most important questions that has arisen since the discovery of the Denisovans 15 years ago. Now, recent research by a team led by FU Qiaomiei from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and JI Qiang of Hebei GEO University has helped answer this question by confirming that a nearly complete hominin skull discovered near Harbin belongs to the Denisovan lineage. It dates back to at least 146,000 years ago.

EurekAlert!
Radical AnthropologyMay 29, 2025

The skullduggery over #Toumai involved suppression of possible evidence that it was not in fact a #hominin (bipedal) fossil.

'When she returned, she found that her research materials had been confiscated; the fossils were being “renumbered”, she was told. At one point, however, Bergeret said, one of her advisers appeared with the femur in his hand. “This piece,” he warned, holding it before her: “You forget you ever saw it.”'

#anthropology #palaeoanthropology #Sahelanthropus

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/may/27/the-curse-of-toumai-ancient-skull-disputed-femur-feud-humanity-origins?CMP=share_btn_url

The curse of Toumaï: an ancient skull, a disputed femur and a bitter feud over humanity’s origins

The long read: When fossilised remains were discovered in the Djurab desert in 2001, they were hailed as radically rewriting the history of our species. But not everyone was convinced – and the bitter argument that followed has consumed the lives of scholars ever since

The Guardian
Seth ChagiMay 1, 2025

#Death has always fascinated, if not most of the time, scared us. For as long as we have been conscious, we have wondered where our "person" goes when we leave what we understand as existence.

However, are we the first #hominin species to wonder about the #afterlife?

Apparently not, as evidence shows; read on - https://worldofpaleoanthropology.org/2025/04/30/beyond-the-grave-burial-and-the-human-condition-in-deep-time/

Beyond the Grave: Burial and the Human Condition in Deep Time

In the remote depths of caves from Iraq to Spain and South Africa, our ancient relatives confronted the mystery of death—and in doing so, revealed the first stirrings of what it means to be human. …

World of Paleoanthropology