Spend a Day Tracking Chimpanzees

A series of short videos captures a rare view into the lives of wild chimps through the eyes of a…

What Bigfoot Teaches Us About Public Mistrust of Science

In the 1960s, credentialed scientists, including physical anthropologists, hunted for the legendary Sasquatch. How did they fall for the hoax?…

Monogamy. Grandmas. Milk. The Evolution of Childhood Is Very Strange.

In a new book, Growing Up Human, a bioarchaeologist chronicles some of the most surprising evolutionary adaptations of babies, parents,…

Extracting Hominin Evolution From Fossilized Teeth

Two scientists explain how analyses of oxygen isotopes from 17-million-year-old ape teeth could lead to new insights on early human…

Does “Monkeypox” Give Monkeys a Bad Name?

The debate over naming the virus known as monkeypox says a lot about the close—but fraught—relationships between humans and our…

What Chimpanzees Know About Giving Medicine

New observations of chimpanzees in Gabon lead researchers to wonder if the tendency to medicate ourselves and others really is unique to humans.

Did Dads Evolve?

Most male mammals are not involved in raising their offspring. Anthropological observations of fatherhood can provide insight into how—and why—humans are so different.

The Evolution of Throwing

Homo sapiens has a throwing arm that sets our species apart from all others—now athletes are helping anthropologists understand this prowess.

How Apes Reveal Human History

Great apes provide a window into the story of human evolution—and that’s one more reason to protect them.

Why Are There So Many Humans?

The populations of the great apes were once nearly equal. Now, one great ape species—Homo sapiens—outnumbers the rest by almost 8 billion. How did we do it?