I have been reporting on progress into genetic studies of human evolution ever since Svante Pääbo's group published the first glimpses of the Neanderthal genome. Less frequently I have also ventured deeper into time, where morphology is the only handle we have to try and draw up a family tree of our evolutionary ancestors. The categorisation of some ancient fossils as Homo while others are filed in other, extinct genera, has always struck me as illogical and confusing. So I was very glad when I stumbled across a new paper that calls for a revision (and expansion) of our genus. That was a good enough excuse to write another feature about human evolution, which is out now:
What it means to be Homo
Current Biology Volume 36, Issue 18, 21 September 2026, Pages R963--R965
Restricted access to full text and PDF download
Magic link for free access
(first seven weeks only)
(Unfortunately, this year's features will no longer become open access one year after publication - do contact me if you would like a PDF and the magic link has expired.)
See also my new Mastodon thread where I will highlight all this year's CB features.
My mastodon posts are also mirrored on Bluesky.
Last year's thread is here .
Homo erectus was a hominin species that thrived for nearly two million years across three continents. Proteomic studies suggest that this species may be the source of ‘super-archaic’ gene variants inherited by modern humans via Denisovans. (Photo: Emöke Dénes/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).)
No comments:
Post a Comment