The idea that modern humans inherited DNA from Neanderthal ancestors is one of the 21st century’s most celebrated discoveries in evolution. It may not be that simple.

Neanderthal skull discovered in 1908 in France. (Luna04/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0) In 1857, the German anatomist Hermann ...

New research into Upper Paleolithic fossils from western Eurasia suggests that hybridization between ancient human groups was not a rare side event, but a major force in human evolution. By comparing ...

Fossils offer a detailed record of early human skulls but not the brains inside them. So researchers have been using genetic material taken from those fossils to search for clues about how the human ...

A latest study utilizing advanced spatial modeling has revealed that neither climate change nor direct competition with early modern humans can fully explain the disappearance of Neanderthals from ...

Neanderthals are also continuing their own journey through history, and the latest scientific study conducted at Stajnia Cave ...

Neanderthals' brains were not the reason behind their extinction, suggests a shocking new study. Scientists believed that ...

A skull fragment discovered over fifty years ago on the banks of the Elbe River in Germany has finally yielded its secrets. Long considered by some researchers to be a rare Neanderthal-modern human ...

Brain size can matter across the broad sweep of primate evolution but among humans isn't the best way to estimate ...

These segments of the human genome, known as Human Ancestor Quickly Evolved Regions (HAQERs) are non-coding sequences that ...

Researchers found that ancient hominids—including early humans—were exposed to lead throughout childhood, leaving chemical traces in fossil teeth. Experiments suggest this exposure may have driven ...

For a long time, Neanderthals were imagined as bulky carnivores of the Ice Age: heavy-browed hunters who lived on slabs of ...