
Why Chimpanzees Kill
Kate Wong is an award-winning science writer and senior editor for features at Scientific American, where she has 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

Why Chimpanzees Kill

Humans Tamed Fire by 1 Million Years Ago

First of Our Kind: Could Australopithecus sediba Be Our Long Lost Ancestor?
Sensational fossils from South Africa spark debate over how we came to be human

Report from Former U.S. Marine Hints at Whereabouts of Long-Lost Peking Man Fossils

Iceman's Genome Furnishes Clues to His Ailments and Ancestry

Bed Bug Confidential: An Expert Explains How to Defend against the Dreaded Pests
Everything you ever wanted to know about bed bugs but were afraid to ask

In Bowerbird Romance, Master Illusionists Get the Girls

Giraffes Eat Bones--and Other Things I Learned on Safari [Slide Show]
The amazing things I learned about animals while on safari in South Africa

Recommended: Sea
Books and recommendations from Scientific American

Was Australopithecus sediba Polygamous? Paleontologist Answers Reader Questions about New Early Human Fossils

Recommended: Relics: Travels in Nature's Time Machine
Books and recommendation from Scientific American

CT Imaging Allows Analysis of Hidden Human Fossil

Is This Your Long-Lost Ancestor?

CT-Imaging Provides New View of Baby Mammoths

Ancient Bird Remains Illuminate Lost World of Indonesia s Hobbits

CT Scans of Baby Mammoths Reveal Ice Age Mystery

Recommended: The Lost Photographs of Captain Scott
Books and recommendations from Scientific American

On the Trail of the First Americans [Interactive]
New discoveries have focused researchers on two possible migration routes

Recommended: Deceptive Beauties: The World of Wild Orchids
Books and recommendations from Scientific American

Tool-Using Fish Caught on Tape [Video]

Recommended: The Art of Medicine: Over 2,000 Years of Images and Imagination
Books and recommendations from Scientific American

When Earth Really Was the Planet of the Apes

Recommended: Silent Killers: Submarines and Underwater Warfare
Books and recommendation from Scientific American

Ahead of Their Time: Neandertals and the First Grandparents
Neandertals and early modern humans showed fits and starts of creativity before archaeology's big bang