Reprieve
A discussion of research, controversy and silliness in the field of human evolution
MY BLOGS
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EvoAnth
http://evoanth.wordpress.com/
A discussion of the latest research into human origins.
LATEST ARTICLES ( 510 )
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Did Early Hominins – Like Lucy – Use Spears?
Spears are a key part of the modern hunter-gatherer toolkit. But what about the ancient toolkit? Like, the really ancient toolkit. Could early hominins - with... Read more
Posted on 17 November 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
“Breast Sex” is an Evolved Behaviour?
Humans do some weird stuff during sex. Chocolate fondue, I'm looking at you. These behaviours don't really contribute to reproductive fitness, so surely... Read more
Posted on 16 November 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Top Human Evolution Discoveries of Last Week (15/11/15)
It's that time of the week again. Time for the latest recap all things human evolution. So what did we find out about our ancestors this week? For the second... Read more
Posted on 15 November 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Groovy Chimps Naturally Move with the Beat
Ever find yourself walking down the street with a friend and your steps begin to line up? Just like Little Mix in the picture. Humans have this unique ability t... Read more
Posted on 14 November 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Schizophrenia: the Cost of Being Human?
Schizophrenia seems to be a condition unique to humans. It's plagued people for as long as recorded history (and presumably longer, it's just we don't have the... Read more
Posted on 12 November 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Was Cave Art Made by Children?
Our ancestors were making cave art for tens of thousands of years. It was clearly an important part of their society. Yet this crucial pillar of prehistoric lif... Read more
Posted on 10 November 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Creation.com Explains Away Mosaic Fossils with Lies
Research into our ancestors has revealed that many members of the human family are "mosaic" species. In other words they contain a combination of archaic (old)... Read more
Posted on 09 November 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Top Human Evolution Discoveries of Last Week (8/11/15)
It's Sunday again; so lets review the latest human evolution discoveries from the past week. Perhaps the biggest development is the "contributor" button that no... Read more
Posted on 08 November 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Chimp Technology is Conformist
Most of the tools chimps use are biodegradable objects. Stuff like wood and leaves that rot away over time. However, they do use rocks to crack nuts. This leave... Read more
Posted on 07 November 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Why Did Humans Evolve to Cry?
Most animals will shed tears if their eyes become irritated; but only humans cry in the absence of that. Although there have been some anecdotal reports of... Read more
Posted on 05 November 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Heat: Another Reason Humans Have Big Brains
Humans have stupidly big brains. Which are also stupidly important, making all of our fancy technology possible. As such scientists have spent an awful lot of... Read more
Posted on 03 November 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Onomatopoeia: The Origin of Language?
Almost every language on the planet includes words that sound like the things they describe. Crash, yawn, glug... speech is just full of these onomatopoeias. An... Read more
Posted on 29 October 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Early “failed” Migration out of Africa Was Actually Successful
Humans evolved in Africa within the last 200,000 years. However, they didn't hang around for long. By ~120,000 years ago modern humans began migrating out of... Read more
Posted on 27 October 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Creationists Try to Explain Away Homo Naledi with Hypothesis Explicitly...
Scientists recently announced the discovery of Homo naledi. This key fossil sheds light on the period ~2 million years ago when our ancestors were evolving... Read more
Posted on 26 October 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Top Human Evolution Discoveries of Last Week (19/10/15)
It's Sunday; so here's your weekly recap of the top 5 discoveries about our past (and future) from the last 7 days Oxytocin is something to fear; at least if... Read more
Posted on 25 October 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Human Hands Are Still Evolving; but Not for the Reason You Might Think
Evolution takes place at a very slow rate. This can make it very difficult to identify if any part of us is still evolving. Which - as an egocentric species - w... Read more
Posted on 22 October 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Humans Evolved to Sleep Less
Sleep is something every vertebrate does. Why they do this is unknown - although it does seem to enhance learning and clear a build-up of nasty metabolites - bu... Read more
Posted on 20 October 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Homo Naledi Continues to Confuse Creationists
Homo naledi is a recently discovered member of our family. Which makes it special. But what makes it more special is that it is a "mosaic" of ape-like and... Read more
Posted on 19 October 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Neanderthals Needed Chimney – New Human Evolution Discoveries (12/10/15)
This week has revealed a lot of interesting facts about our ancestors including selfish; carniverous primates, Neanderthals in need of a chimney and more: The... Read more
Posted on 18 October 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Primates Don’t Like to Share Food
Food sharing is a fairly common behaviour amongst primates - including us humans. After all, the farmer is sharing his crop with you; albeit in exchange for... Read more
Posted on 17 October 2015 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE