archive

State of the species

From Edge, Daniel Lieberman on how taking an evolutionary approach to the body gives us insights about how to better use our bodies. Elizabeth Preston on the hazards of being an athletic ape. Saber-Toothed cats, snakes, and carnivorous kangaroos — what are you so scared of? Rob Dunn on the evolutionary legacy of having been prey. Robert Krulwich on how human beings almost vanished from Earth in 70,000 B.C. Erin Wyman on how to retrace early human migrations. Sirio Canis Donnay reviews The Creation of Inequality: How Our Prehistoric Ancestors Set the Stage for Monarchy, Slavery and Empire by Kent Flannery and Joyce Marcus. Who would win in a fight, a modern human or a Neanderthal? When did humans and Neandertals stop having sex? The Neanderthal in my family tree: New genetic evidence shows our ancestors interbred with now-extinct species. Are humans monogamous or polygamous? Archaeologists, anthropologists, and biologists agree — it’s complicated. Modern humans found to be fittest ever at survival, by far: Humans have done more to extend our life expectancy in the last century than during the previous 6.6 million years, since the evolutionary divergence from chimpanzees. State of the species: Does success spell doom for Homo sapiens?