Scientists have discovered two new species of burrowing animals that lived in northeastern China 120 million years ago. Skeletal remains of the species, called Fossiomanus sinensis and Jueconodon chenispiky, reveal they had claws designed for ‘scratch digging’ – a technique to create tunnels using the claws of the forelimbs. Experts at the American Museum of Natural … Read more
Women evolved to have bigger hips than men because our primitive ancestors laid EGGS millions of years ago, study claims For years it was thought that women have wide hips to allow delivery of babies But female chimps also have wide hips, despite having smaller babies Experts say a shared ancestor developed wide hips to … Read more
New reconstructions of two famous ancient human ancestors have been produced by a team of academics. The models of Lucy and the Taung child were made from silicone casts, with skin pigmentation and individual hairs painstakingly applied by hand. Researchers sought to create the most lifelike reconstructions of these specimens ever produced by basing their … Read more
Ancestors of modern humans who lived 4.4 million years ago were well-suited to swinging in trees and a life in the branches. Hand bones of Ardi, a member of the ancient human relative species Ardipithecus ramidus, were compared to modern primates and other extinct human ancestors. It reveals they are ape-like in structure and more suited to … Read more
Independent MP William Wilberforce wrote the Slave Trade Act in 1807 which abolished the industry across the British Empire. It was enacted in 1833 The transatlantic slave trade was launched by Portuguese traders with the construction of sub-Saharan Africa’s first permanent slave trading post at Elmina in 1492. But it soon passed into Dutch then … Read more
How apes ‘talked’ 40m years ago: Our primate ancestors developed capacity for language, scientists say Arrival of Homo Sapiens was believed to be when language started taking shape New research suggests our ancient ancestors developed capacity for language Researchers at universities of Warwick and Zurich examined how chimpanzees, monkeys and humans processed tones in a … Read more
DNA – deoxyribonucleic acid – is widely known as the molecule found in the nucleus of all our cells that contains genetic information. It is shaped like a double-helix and made of small sections called nucleotides. Each nucleotide contains a nucleobase, a sugar, and a phosphate group. The sugar component in this particular molecule is … Read more
David Walliams has said he was relieved to learn he didn’t have any ‘horrible’ ancestors while filming Who Do You Think You Are? The comedian-turned-children’s author compared his experience to that of fellow TV star Jack Whitehall, who appeared on the BBC series last year. ‘I’m glad there weren’t any “baddies” in my family, because … Read more
Fire was used to make tools by our early human ancestors some 300,000 years ago, an analysis of flint blades unearthed in a cave east of Tel Aviv has revealed. Researchers from Israel studied stone blades, flakes and pot-lids from the Qesem cave — and discovered evidence that they had been exposed to controlled fires. Exposing … Read more
One of the earliest human ancestors – that lived 400 million years ago – was a ‘fish’ with no jaw that used spines on its head to shift position in the water, study claims. Researchers from the University of Bristol used computer simulations to create ‘avatars’ of our ancient relatives to explore how they moved … Read more