#paleoanthropology — Public Fediverse posts

Humans began to wear clothing 170,000 years ago

Genetic data suggest that body hair was lost ∼1.2 Ma ... 3 Ma

Parasites are an ideal for determining when clothing use first began in hominins.

The human louse (Pediculus humanus) is a single species that occurs as two ecological types (head and clothing lice). Determining when head and clothing lice began to diverge provides a date by which clothing must have been in regular use by humans.

Origin of Clothing Lice Indicates Early Clothing Use by Anatomically Modern Humans in Africa https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/28/1/29/984822?login=false

#evolution #molecularBiology #Paleoanthropology #Anthropology
#Archaeology

15-Oct-2026
Fatal #Neanderthal wound may be earliest evidence of a wooden #spear attack on a #human ancestor

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1147227

#science #archaeology #humanEvolution #paleoAnthropology #violence #weapons

Ancient DNA identifies 146,000 year-old ‘Dragon Man’ as a Denisovan

Ancient DNA and proteins identify China’s nearly comp…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Science #ancientDNA #ChineseAcademyofSciences #Denisovans #dentalcalculus #DragonMan #fossilanatomy #Harbinskull #Homolongi #Humanevolution #MiddlePleistocene #mitochondrialDNA #Neanderthals #NewDiscoveries #paleoanthropology #paleontology #paleoproteomics #QiaomeiFu #Research
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/879086/

Ancient DNA identifies 146,000 year-old ‘Dragon Man’ as a Denisovan

Ancient DNA and proteins identify China’s nearly complete “Dragon Man” skull as Deni…
#NewsBeep #News #Science #AncientDNA #AU #Australia #ChineseAcademyofSciences #Denisovans #dentalcalculus #DragonMan #fossilanatomy #Harbinskull #Homolongi #humanevolution #MiddlePleistocene #mitochondrialDNA #Neanderthals #NewDiscoveries #paleoanthropology #Paleontology #paleoproteomics #QiaomeiFu #research
https://www.newsbeep.com/au/924505/

https://www.europesays.com/ie/730204/ Ancient DNA identifies 146,000 year-old ‘Dragon Man’ as a Denisovan #AncientDNA #ChineseAcademyOfSciences #Denisovans #DentalCalculus #DragonMan #Éire #FossilAnatomy #HarbinSkull #HomoLongi #HumanEvolution #IE #Ireland #MiddlePleistocene #MitochondrialDNA #Neanderthals #NewDiscoveries #paleoanthropology #paleontology #paleoproteomics #QiaomeiFu #Research #Science

A straight-tusked elephant molar from Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel, found among 700,000-year-old Acheulian handaxes, records about three years of one animal’s drinking water. #Paleoanthropology #Acheulian #Archaeology https://www.anthropology.net/p/a-700000-year-old-elephant-tooth

A skull fragment pulled from a lime-mining pit near Johannesburg may be the oldest adult Homo erectus known. At Drimolen, our ancestors were outnumbered by Paranthropus more than 10 to 1. #HumanEvolution #Paleoanthropology #Drimolen https://www.anthropology.net/p/homo-erectus-in-south-africa-outnumbered

The newest face of the oldest known member of our species was built from a 2017 press video, fossils from at least two individuals and a modern stranger’s CT scan. #JebelIrhoud #HumanEvolution #Paleoanthropology https://www.anthropology.net/p/the-315000-year-old-homo-sapiens

https://www.europesays.com/uk/1211673/ Africa’s Turkana Rift has entered a critical stage of continental breakup #ContinentalBreakup #ContinentalRifting #CrustalNecking #EastAfricanRiftSystem #FossilPreservation #GreenGoodNews #HomininFossils #HumanEvolution #KenyaGeology #LakeTurkana #lithosphere #NewDiscoveries #Paleoanthropology #PlateTectonics #Research #Science #TectonicPlates #TurkanaRift #UK #UnitedKingdom

https://www.europesays.com/africa/432760/ Africa’s Turkana Rift has entered a critical stage of continental breakup #ContinentalBreakup #ContinentalRifting #CrustalNecking #EastAfricanRiftSystem #Ethiopia #FossilPreservation #GreenGoodNews #HomininFossils #HumanEvolution #KenyaGeology #LakeTurkana #lithosphere #NewDiscoveries #paleoanthropology #PlateTectonics #research #science #TectonicPlates #TurkanaRift

#NetMassimo #paleontology #paleoanthropology #paleogenetics #archaeology #fossils #hominins #Denisovans

An article published in the journal "Nature" reports the results of a proteomic analysis that led to the identification of fossils attributed to the hominin species known as the Denisovans. A team of researchers studied over 60,000 bone fragments found in Bianfu Cave in China's Yunnan Province, identifying three Denisovan bones and four teeth.

https://english.netmassimo.com/2026/09/17/new-fossils-discovered-in-china-have-been-attributed-to-denisovans/

Little Foot, 3.67 million years old, loaded its arms like a climbing gorilla and its legs like a walking human. Early Homo had left the trees by 1.8 million years ago. #HumanEvolution #Australopithecus #Paleoanthropology https://www.anthropology.net/p/little-foot-still-climbed-like-an

Two Ice Age skeletons from Sulawesi show teeth ground into deep grooves by decades of sucking raw betel nuts, no lime needed. It pushes the record of human drug use back to 25,000 years ago, long before farming. #Archaeology #HumanEvolution #Paleoanthropology https://www.anthropology.net/p/betel-nut-sucking-pushes-drug-use

Five Denisovan fossils from a Yunnan cave, including the only known Denisovan forearm bone, were confirmed after DNA extraction failed. Ancient proteins did the identifying instead. #Denisovans #Paleoanthropology #AncientDNA https://www.anthropology.net/p/five-denisovan-fossils-in-china-confirmed

9-Sep-2026
#Denisovan radius (bone) discovered for first time in Southwest #China

researchers employed a novel proteomic strategy to identify additional #hominin bones from a Paleolithic site called Bianfu Cave in Yunnan Province. #Paleoproteomic analysis confirmed five hominin remains as #Denisovans, helping fill the distribution gap of Denisovans in Southwest China.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1142903

#science #humanEvolution #paleoAnthropology

A chimpanzee in this study never once landed heel-first in 43 strides. New research shows why humans always do, and the physical cost hidden in that single evolutionary difference. #HumanEvolution #Paleoanthropology #Bipedalism https://www.anthropology.net/p/the-evolutionary-trade-off-behind

https://www.europesays.com/uk/1185344/ The Human Family Tree May Need a Major Rewrite #EvolutionaryAnthropology #Hominin #MonashUniversity #Paleoanthropology #paleontology #Science #Taxonomy #UK #UnitedKingdom

The Human Family Tree May Need a Major Rewrite

New Monash University research argues our Paranthropus (pictured) and Australopithecus ancestors who lived up to 5 million years…
#NewsBeep #News #Science #CA #Canada #EvolutionaryAnthropology #Hominin #MonashUniversity #paleoanthropology #Paleontology #Taxonomy
https://www.newsbeep.com/ca/881629/

https://www.europesays.com/ie/669804/ The Human Family Tree May Need a Major Rewrite #Éire #EvolutionaryAnthropology #Hominin #IE #Ireland #MonashUniversity #paleoanthropology #paleontology #Science #Taxonomy

Gene That Differs Between Humans and Neanderthals Could Shed Light On The Species Disappearance Mouse Study Suggests

https://onlinemarketingscoops.com/2026/08/28/gene-that-differs-between-humans-and-neanderthals-could-shed-light-on-the-species-disappearance-mouse-study-suggests/

https://www.europesays.com/ie/646490/ Wild monkeys challenge a long-held assumption about the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees #Australopithecus #biology #Bipedalism #Chimpanzees #Éire #FootFlexibility #HumanChimpanzeeLastCommonAncestor #HumanEvolution #IE #Ireland #IvoryCoast #MidfootDorsiflexion #NewDiscoveries #OhioStateUniversity #paleoanthropology #PrimateEvolution #PrimateLocomotion #Research #Science #SootyMangabey #TaïForest #VerticalClimbing #Wildlife

Australopithecus isn’t a clade. Paranthropus may not be either. A new AJBA paper argues the fix is folding both into an expanded Homo spanning 4-5 million years, and that baboons show us why. #Paleoanthropology #HumanOrigins #Taxonomy https://www.anthropology.net/p/the-case-for-folding-australopithecus

Two Neanderthal male pelvises just got statistically classified as female. The new argument: our hip sockets migrated forward, turning the male pelvis into a spring, and the Neanderthal was normal all along.

#Paleoanthropology #Neanderthals #HumanEvolution https://www.anthropology.net/p/two-neanderthal-pelvises-suggest

RE: https://sciences.social/@primatology/117113118714478806

Sooty mangabey midfoot dorsiflexion (~46°) matches chimp ankle hyperdorsiflexion in vertical climbing, new PNAS data show. Implications for LCA foot reconstruction and Australopithecus midfoot flexibility. #Paleoanthropology #Primatology #HumanOrigins

Two ancient leg bones from Taiwan just got ID’d as Denisovan via protein analysis, and one individual may have stood nearly 6’3”. Why so big, so far south? Still an open question. #Denisovans #Paleoanthropology #HumanEvolution https://www.anthropology.net/p/two-leg-bones-from-a-drowned-taiwanese

RE: https://sciences.social/@primatology/117056093735357129

Rethinking early primate brain evolution! 🧠👁️

A new Science paper reveals visual regions—not the frontal lobe—drove brain expansion, tracking optic nerve size back 33+ Myr. A major shift for #Paleoanthropology & #Primatology.

Meat gets all the credit for growing the human brain. But brains run on glucose, not protein, and for most of our evolutionary history that glucose came from fruit and honey, not steak. New modeling in Science makes the case. #HumanEvolution #Paleoanthropology #Anthropology https://www.anthropology.net/p/the-brain-ran-on-fruit-long-before

#NetMassimo #paleontology #paleoanthropology #hominins

An article published in the journal "Science" reports the discovery of genes belonging to two previously unknown hominin species in the DNA of modern humans.

https://english.netmassimo.com/2026/08/06/genes-belonging-to-two-unknown-hominin-species-identified-in-the-dna-of-modern-humans/

New parietal fragments from Gran Dolina give Homo antecessor its first adult cranial thickness data. Total thickness looks modern-human-like, but the layer proportions tell a stranger, more mosaic story. 🦴🧠 #PaleoAnthropology #HumanEvolution #Atapuerca https://www.anthropology.net/p/what-the-inside-of-an-850000-year

Scientists just found DNA from two human relatives we’ve never found a single fossil of, hiding in modern genomes. One mixed with us in Africa 800,000 years ago; the other reached us secondhand, through Denisovans. #paleoanthropology #humanevolution #ancientDNA https://www.anthropology.net/p/two-ghosts-in-the-genome

Flat head syndrome in babies today is showing up in fossil skulls over a million years old, including a “hobbit” with a chimp-sized brain. What it reveals about ancient childcare. #Paleoanthropology #HomoErectus #HumanEvolution https://www.anthropology.net/p/what-flat-heads-tell-us-about-a-million

A cave 4,000m up in Ladakh just revealed a lost population: people with ancestry split almost perfectly between South Asians and Tibetans, mixing began ~2800 years ago, and one still carries a Denisovan altitude gene. #AncientDNA #Paleoanthropology #Archaeogenetics https://www.anthropology.net/p/ancient-genomes-from-a-cave-above

Eight sets of footprints, 1.43 million years old, found on an ancient Kenyan lakeshore reveal a hominin group larger than expected, possibly rewriting what we know about Paranthropus boisei body size and social behavior. 🦶🌍🔬 #Paleoanthropology #HumanEvolution #Turkana https://www.anthropology.net/p/eight-sets-of-footprints-on-a-vanished

The discovery of 1.4-million-year-old fossil footprints in northern Kenya preserves the tracks of eight Paranthropus boisei individuals, providing direct evidence of their anatomy, locomotion, and behavior.
#Paleoanthropology #EvolutionaryBiology #Geology #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/pal07272601.html