Some of the ancient humans living in Europe half a million years ago had a remarkable strategy for dealing with winter: they hibernated. At least, that is the claim being made by two researchers. Others dispute the evidence – but ongoing research suggests that it might be possible to induce a hibernation-like state in modern humans. Image: quinet
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In the past few years we have learned to read the signals in other organic molecules that tend to survive longer than DNA and persist even in warm environments. Now, some think they could reveal how archaic humans like H. naledi evolved and interacted. Image: hape662
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Over the past 15 years, almost every part of our story, every assumption about who our ancestors were and where we came from, has been called into question. The new insights have some unsettling implications for how long we have walked the earth, and even who we really are. Image: Ryan Somma
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It doesn’t take a degree in human anatomy to realise that there is something unusual about the Cohuna skull. With its flat, sloping forehead and prominent brow ridge, it looks distinctly primitive. Image: Marcin T?ustochowicz
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The human evolutionary tree is looking more tangled than ever: as many as six species of human-like apes were around during the crucial period from 2.5 to 1.8 million years ago when the first upright apes with relatively large brains evolved – and the one that gave rise to modern humans may have lived not in East Africa but in the south. Image: Lee Berger
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Move over Africa. It is where humanity began, where we took our first steps and grew big brains. But those interested in the latest cool stuff on the origins of our species should look to Asia instead. Why so? It looks as if some early chapters in the human story, and significant chunks of its later ones too, took place under Asian skies. Image: Tadias Magazine
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