A hidden force let humans smash a barrier that had trapped our ancestors for millions of years.

The traditional labels Homo, Australopithecus and Paranthropus may no longer match the tangled relationships revealed by the ...

A new study could reshape human evolution by placing Australopithecus and Paranthropus within an expanded genus Homo.

A digital reconstruction of a million-year-old skull suggests humans may have diverged from our ancient ancestors 400,000 years earlier than thought and in Asia not Africa, a study said Friday. The ...

Human evolution has often been depicted as a process of adaptation, where natural selection and genetic changes drive species toward better-suited traits for survival in their environments. But this ...

Humans really do rule the world. We took over fast and far, more than any other wild vertebrates. We inhabit nearly every corner of the world, and can thrive in deserts, tropical rainforests and even ...

The human body is full of evolutionary compromises. The loss of the tail may be one of the clearest examples of how change comes with cost. Long before humans walked upright, long before even apes ...

On Valentine’s Day in 2018, a team of scientists walked across a flat expanse in the badlands of northeastern Ethiopia, scanning the ground for fossils. An eagle-eyed field assistant, Omar Abdulla, ...

A mosquito lands on an arm. Within seconds, it finds the skin, inserts its mouthparts and begins feeding. Humans have been experiencing versions of this encount ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. For most of human history, green eyes didn’t exist.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or ...

Scientists in Chicago are mapping some fascinating evolutionary changes to local rodents — and how humans may have contributed to that change. Adaptation and evolution can steer the trajectory of a ...