The reconstitution of a functional envelope protein from an extinct hominid retrovirus reveals its receptor and an ancient host defense that may have led to the extinction of the virus.
A late Middle Pleistocene age for Homo naledi demonstrates a diversity of hominin species in Africa at this critical time in the archaeological record.
Bipedal footprints made 3.66 million years ago provide the clearest available evidence to date of the occurrence of marked body size variation in Australopithecus afarensis..
A new hominin species has been unearthed in the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star cave system in the largest assemblage of a single species of hominins yet discovered in Africa.
Independent dating techniques have established that the H. naledi fossils are between 236 and 335 thousand years old, indicating that small-brained hominins with relatively primitive body shapes co-existed with our early ancestors in Africa.
The exceptionally large size of the human brain is the result of accelerating evolution towards larger brains in hominins, but is not the product of neocortical expansion.
The discovery of new skeletal remains of Homo naledi in the Lesedi Chamber, South Africa, adds more evidence to our understanding of the morphology and behavior of this recently discovered species.