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The Most Incredible Human Evolution Discoveries of the New Millennium

New fossil and archaeological finds, along with insights from genetics, are upending the story of our origins

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what an extraordinary time we are living in for paleoanthropological discovery. The saga of human origins has undergone substantial revision since the start of the new millennium—and it is more fascinating than ever. In my introduction to the September issue of Scientific American, which is devoted to the story of us, I reflect on some of the more spectacular revelations to have emerged over the past 15 years. You can read more about those finds at the links below:

Rising Star Expedition

An Ancestor to Call Our Own


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First of Our Kind: Could Australopithecus sediba Be Our Long Lost Ancestor?

Stranger in a New Land

The Littlest Human

Rethinking "Hobbits": What They Mean for Human Evolution

When the Sea Saved Humanity

Neanderthals Made Leather-Working Tools Like Those in Use Today

Caveman Couture: Neandertals Rocked Dark Feathers

Did Neandertals Think Like Us?

Neandertal Genome Study Reveals That We Have a Little Caveman in Us

Sex with Neandertals Introduced Helpful and Harmful DNA into the Modern Human Genome

Sex with Other Human Species Might Have Been Secret of Homo sapiens’s Success

New DNA Analysis Shows Ancient Humans Interbred with Denisovans

Tibetans Inherited High-Altitude Gene from Ancient Human

Kate Wong is an award-winning science writer and was formerly senior editor for features at Scientific American, where she focused on evolution, ecology, anthropology, archaeology, paleontology and animal behavior. She is fascinated by human origins, which she has covered for nearly 30 years. Recently she has become obsessed with birds. Her reporting has taken her to caves in France and Croatia that Neandertals once called home to the shores of Kenya’s Lake Turkana in search of the oldest stone tools in the world, as well as to Madagascar on an expedition to unearth ancient mammals and dinosaurs, the icy waters of Antarctica, where humpback whales feast on krill, and a “Big Day” race around the state of Connecticut to find as many bird species as possible in 24 hours. Wong is co-author, with Donald Johanson, of Lucy’s Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins. She holds a bachelor of science degree in biological anthropology and zoology from the University of Michigan. Follow her on Bluesky @katewong.bsky.social

More by Kate Wong
Scientific American Magazine Vol 311 Issue 3This article was published with the title “The Most Incredible Human Evolution Discoveries of the New Millennium” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 311 No. 3 ()
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican092014-1jyZXP3IT2lWbpyTxxmTkd

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