Human

An international team of scientists has published the first complete, gap-free sequence of the human genome. The new reference genome adds hundreds of millions of base pairs to earlier drafts, filling in crucial gaps to improve studies of disease.

A newly discovered fossil may change what we know about an ancient human relative. Vertebrae from the lower back of an Australopithecus sediba reveal it was surprisingly well adapted to walking upright like a human, while also climbing like an ape.

Exactly when humans first set foot in North America remains a mystery, but archeologists have now uncovered the oldest unambiguous evidence. Human footprints have been found at White Sands National Park in New Mexico, dated to about 22,000 years ago.

Anthropologists have discovered a new species of human, known from a single fossil skull. Named Homo longi, or “Dragon Man,” the species appears to be our closest known relative, pipping even Neanderthals.

Scientists have analyzed the fossilized dental plaque of Neanderthals to sequence their oral microbiome, including the oldest ever at 100,000 years old. By comparing them to humans and other primates the study reveals new insights into our evolution.

In a breakthrough new study, scientists have created human-monkey chimera embryos for the first time. They make for more accurate models of human biology and disease - but of course they also raise some complicated ethical concerns.

Two new studies have shed light on just how often our ancestors got frisky with Neanderthals. Scientists analyzed the genomes of 45,000-year-old human remains found in Czechia and Bulgaria, including the oldest known genome of a modern human.

Scientists have studied 50,000-year-old Neanderthal poop, and analyzed the DNA of microbes to determine their gut microbiome. Many species are still present in modern humans, revealing the "old friend" bacteria that may be most crucial to our health.

Archaeologists have discovered what they claim to be the oldest example of figurative art made by human hands. An ochre painting of pigs, found on a cave wall in Indonesia, has been dated to be at least 45,500 years old.

A team of researchers has made a surprising new discovery, finding a pair of previously unknown salivary glands. Nestled deep in the back of the nasopharynx, the discovery may help prevent damaging side effects from head and neck cancer radiotherapy.

Researchers have discovered the longest known set of fossilized human footprints, and they tell an amazing story. The tracks were left by a woman carrying a small child, rushing, and after a few hours she made a return journey – without the child.

Fossilized human footprints have been discovered in Saudi Arabia that help fill in the story of the early migration of our species. Dating back 120,000 years, the tracks are the oldest evidence of the presence of modern humans on the Arabian Peninsula.