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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Spear-wielding Chimps Live in Caves
A Savannah chimp eating a bush baby she caught with a spearRemember the Savannah chimps I wrote about last week, who use spears to hunt bush babies? Read more
Posted on 16 November 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Oldest Australopithecus Found
Mrs PlesAustralopithecus was the precursor to our genus, Homo. lived in Africa, from 4 – 1.9 million years ago and were much more ape-like than later members... Read more
Posted on 15 November 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Wild Chimps Seen Hunting with Spears
Chimpanzees mostly eat fruit but occasionally supplement their diet with meat. A common prey is other primates and chimps have developed some fairly complex... Read more
Posted on 09 November 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Teeth Raise Questions Over the Last Common Ancestor of Humans and Neanderthals
The Neanderthals were our cousins that went extinct ~30,000 years ago. We were so similar that we interbred, and so some people argue that we’re actually... Read more
Posted on 07 November 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Testing the Social Brain Hypothesis
The link between group size and brain size (or rather, neocortex size) in modern primates on which the SBH is based. I’m not sure why there are random monkey... Read more
Posted on 05 November 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
New Fossil Trims Our Family Tree
Our family originally evolved in Africa, but over the last 2 million years we’ve spread throughout the world in a series of migrations. Read more
Posted on 31 October 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Homo Rudolfensis is Slightly Older Than Previously Thought
Homo rudolfensis (right) and Homo habilis (left)2 million years ago marked a critical moment in human evolution as it is the first time our genus (Homo) split... Read more
Posted on 25 October 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Neanderthals Ate Haggis?
A Neanderthal (right) and human (left) skull. Notice how the brain case of the Neanderthal is a fair bit bigger than the human oneThe Neanderthals were our clos... Read more
Posted on 22 October 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
The Racism of Creationism
The intellectual arguments for young earth creationism are rather lacking, but YECs do have some emotional arguments that pack a bit of a punch. Read more
Posted on 21 October 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Why Do We Walk Upright?
Walking upright is one of the defining features of humans, separating us from the rest of the living apes. So it’s hardly surprising that the origins of... Read more
Posted on 15 October 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Answers in Genesis Claims Gorillas Have Human Feet
Last week the Cleveland Museum of Natural History updated their reconstruction of the 3 million year old possible human ancestor, Lucy. Read more
Posted on 14 October 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Could Neanderthals Talk?
The image of Neanderthals needed a lot of rehabilitatingVictorian scientists originally thought our close cousins, the Neanderthals, were little more than dumb... Read more
Posted on 10 October 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Why Are Humans Furless?
The title of this post is a bit of a lie, humans aren’t actually furless (and I’m not just talking about the hair on our head). In actual fact humans have as... Read more
Posted on 08 October 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Answers in Genesis Claim New Australopithecus Fossil is Human!
Cleveland’s reconstruction of Lucy (left) and BoneClone’s older reconstruction (right)The Cleveland Museum of Natural History has recently re-reconstructed Lucy... Read more
Posted on 07 October 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Chimp Makes Stone Tools
The use of stone tools is something that separated our ancestors from the chimps. Until now that is! Kanzi is a chimp that has been trained for years to make... Read more
Posted on 04 October 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Creationists Admit Humans and Australopithecus Are Related
Not all young earth creationists believe that every species was created by God. Rather, they think the common ancestor of a “kind” was created and over the... Read more
Posted on 23 September 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Selflessness is Sexy
Evolutionary speaking, selflessness appears to make little sense. If it really is survival of the fittest why waste resources ensuring others are the fittest. Read more
Posted on 19 September 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Is Lucy a Chimp Ancestor?
Today is Wednesday, which means I answer a question from you lovely readers. If you have a question about human evolution, you can get in touch through email,... Read more
Posted on 18 September 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
The Earliest Art May Predate Human Life
Posted on 17 September 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Sir David Attenborough is Wrong, Humans Are Still Evolving
I’ve just got back from a holiday and whilst I was gone it seems Sir David Attenborough has said something wrong. Again. In fairness to him (and with that... Read more
Posted on 16 September 2013 BIOLOGY, SCIENCE