He is the curator of the Smithsonian’s "Hall of Human Origins" and the traveling exhibit “Exploring Human Origins.” He also authored the exhibit companion book What Does It Mean To Be Human? Briana Pobiner leads the National Museum of Natural History’s Human Origins Program’s education and outreach efforts and manages the Human Origins Program's public programs. In the meantime, museums are continuing to work on digitization programs so that scientists can study and have access to collections regardless of pandemics or long distances: the National Museums of Kenya and our own Smithsonian institution have already been working to make 3D reconstructions of their fossils available to researchers from around the world. Smithsonian Magazine recently published an article titled “These are the Decade’s Biggest Discoveries in Human Evolution.” It opens by saying: Human evolution is one of the most vibrant areas of scientific investigation. Back to our theme of migration (can you tell we miss being able to, you know, go places?!? Your email address will not be published. While we may not be able to move around much this year, three studies on fossil human footprints published in 2020 revealed a lot more about where ancient humans traveled and how they moved together in groups. These modern humans first conquered the continent and later spread all over the world . They had to hold the specimen, which consisted of more than 150 pieces of a ~3 year old child, together – without coughing, sneezing, or even talking, and controlling their breathing – for up to 40 minutes at a time! Australopithecus anamensis gets a face. What we do know is that the remains are from 335,000-236,000 years ago and show a unique mix of ancient and human traits, making Homo naledi one of several species that overlapped in time with our own. Another 2020 announcement, this one in May from Chatham University’s Kevin Hatala and colleagues (including Briana Pobiner), analyzed the largest … These late Miocene fossils indicate that this ecologically versatile and adaptable ancient monkey lived in Asia at the same time as apes – and the likely descendants of this species (modern colobines of Asia) have continued this trend by inhabiting some of the most highly seasonal and extreme habitats occupied by nonhuman primates. ... New flower from 100 million years ago brings fresh holiday beauty to 2020. Fossils older than 3.5 million years are extremely rare. Updated Oct 22, 2020; Posted Oct 22, 2020 . In the past decade we’ve seen many discoveries that add to our understanding of our origins. As the researchers make more of these discoveries, the theory of human evolution is getting more complicated. Researchers in South Africa’s Border Cave, a well-known archaeological site perched on a cliff between eSwatini (Swaziland) and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, have found evidence that people have been using grass bedding to create... Archaeology / Dating / Ecology / Environment / … Thanks to this skull, we now know that the two species overlapped in time. She has conducted fieldwork in the US, Kenya, and South Africa. Learn about the early human … While we wait for more Denisovan fossils to be discovered, you can use this VR technology to see through a Neanderthal’s eyes and get up close and personal with some mammoths! There’s no evidence they were dragged there by predators or washed in by water. Instead, it belonged to a previously undiscovered species of early humans now called Denisovans. Unlike body fossils, footprints (and other “trace fossils”) offer us a snapshot of an exact moment in time, or at least a very short time interval. It was once held that H. sapiens first emerged in Eastern Africa and flourished in some Stone Age ‘ Eden’. Our mission is to help scientists accelerate discovery by operating a platform for research communication that encourages and recognises the most responsible behaviours in science. ... in March and April 2020. I loved the episode showing…, As more learning occurs online and at home with the global pandemic, keeping students engaged in learning about science is a challenge…, By Brad Parks A few years back, while driving to my favorite daily writing haunt, the local radio station spit out one…. Two sharp quartzite stones carved by a hominid … While discoveries directly related to humans’ evolutionary journey are important, understanding how now-extinct primates survived, thrived, and traveled across the globe is just as exciting! But we didn’t know just how early those migrations happened. When the decade first started, scientists recovered ancient genetic material from a fossilized finger bone found in the Denisova Cave in Siberia. How do we know? Paleoanthropologist Dr. Rick Potts heads the Human Origins Program at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The pandemic changed a lot about the world including the ways in which paleoanthropologists, archaeologists, and other fieldwork-based researchers operate. She has done fieldwork in Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, and Indonesia. In the past ten years, we’ve found fossils that widen both the geographic and time range of several early human species. In partnership with the Kenya Museums, Potts leads ongoing excavations in southern and western Kenya. In the past decade we’ve seen many discoveries that add to our understanding of our origins. First things first: A “human” is anyone who belongs to the genus Homo(Latin for “man”). But a discovery announced in 2015 pushed that date back. The 408 footprints left behind by 17 individuals help us understand not only the heights and weights of the footprint-makers, but using statistical analysis based on a large data set of modern human feet, the team determined that the walking group probably consisted of 14 female and 2 male individuals. Between 6,000 – 19,000 years ago, a group of modern humans walked through a mudflow in the shadow of the Oldoinyo L’engai volcano in Tanzania. 29 Jul 2020 - 02:23 EDT. Nuño Domínguez. 2020 has been… quite the year! All modern humans likely have a bit of Neanderthal in their DNA, including Africans who had previously been thought to have no genetic link to humanity's extinct human relative, a new study finds. A Thriller Author Talks about How to Sell Science. 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