One of the defining features of human evolution is the steady expansion of our brains. New findings suggest this growth may be partly linked to higher levels of estrogen before birth. Surprisingly, a ...

Life on Earth began in a way that still boggles the mind. Around 4.5 billion years ago, a chemical process called abiogenesis ...

The evolution of human hands is one of the most important – and overlooked – stories of our origin. Now, new fossil evidence ...

The story of Charles Darwin’s life. His theory of evolution changed the way we understood our place in the world.

Every step you take depends on a structure most people rarely think about. The pelvis sits at the center of the body and ...

Human newborns arrive remarkably underdeveloped. The reason lies in a deep evolutionary trade-off between big brains, bipedalism and the limits of motherhood.

Learn how repeated burn injuries may have acted as a form of natural selection, influencing human genes linked to healing and immune response.

If we look across the whole of the mammal branch of the tree of life, we find there are many groups of mammals that have ...

A new analysis argues that this daily work of processing and cooking food helped reshape human bodies and social life. It explores how fire, tools, and cooperation driven by women changed humans’ ...

Humans have been missing the mark since the beginning of their evolution, and the key to remedying this is to recognize the ...

Human evolution has long been tied to growing brain size, and new research suggests prenatal hormones may have played a surprising role. By studying the relative lengths of index and ring fingers — a ...

Like other living creatures, humans have been shaped by evolution. Over time, we have developed – and continue to develop – traits that help us survive.