Could social bonds be the key to human big brains? A study of the fossil teeth of early Homo from Georgia dating back 1.77 million years reveals a prolonged childhood despite a small brain and an ...

Anxiety is not inherently bad. It’s a feature, not a flaw, of the human mind. Its evolutionary purpose was to keep us alive, ...

Compared to the great apes, humans have an exceptionally long childhood, during which parents, grandparents and other adults contribute to their physical and cognitive development. This is a key ...

The chances of intelligent life emerging in our Universe -- and in any hypothetical ones beyond it -- can be estimated by a new theoretical model which has echoes of the famous Drake Equation. This ...

The brains of today's birds facilitate a level of cognitive prowess and behavioral complexity rivaled only by mammals. But ...

Signs of temporarily delayed tooth development in the skull of an ancient Homo species youth spark debate about the origins of humanlike growth.

A study suggests that the human act of kissing is a remnant of grooming, in which great apes use lip suction to clean the fur ...

NEWS ANALYSIS. Fifty years after this fossil's discovery, its place in the history of humankind is still debated, while, in ...

Perhaps most importantly, Lucy’s discovery foreshadowed a series of fossil finds that filled in the scientific picture of her species. By 1978, enough evidence had accumulated to establish Lucy as the ...

Lucy, a fossilized skeleton unearthed 50 years ago this month, transformed scientists’ understanding of human evolution. The ...

An analysis looking at the hand bones of australopithecines, apes and humans reveals that tool use likely evolved before the ...

The fossil remains of the unique hominid were found in Ethiopia in 1974, traveled around the world, were the subject of ...