Our species, Homo sapiens, has been evolving for more than 300,000 years, but the story of human origins starts much earlier.

Recent fossil finds could mean that "Lucy" wasn't our direct ancestor, some scientists say. Others strongly disagree. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Fossils unearthed in Morocco are the first from a little-understood period of human evolution and may be remains of a ...

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 ...

The human genome is made up of 23 pairs of chromosomes, the biological blueprints that make humans … well, human. But it turns out that some of our DNA — about 8% — are the remnants of ancient viruses ...

One of the biggest mysteries in human evolution has just been solved. In 2010, a groundbreaking genetic analysis revealed that east Asia was once home to a previously unknown group of enigmatic ...

Scientists working in Ethiopia's Afar Region have made discoveries that rewrite our understanding of early human history. For ...

An ancient skull unearthed in China’s Hubei Province may push back the emergence of the human species by 400,000 years Peerapon Boonyakiat/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty A human skull found in 1990 ...

National Research Council (U.S.) Board on Earth Sciences and Resources "The hominin fossil record documents a history of critical evolutionary events that have ultimately shaped and defined what it ...

The Indigenous peoples of the Bolivian highlands are survivors. For thousands of years they have lived at altitudes of more than two miles, where oxygen is about 35 percent lower than at sea level.