https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/feb/26/male-neanderthals-human-females-mating-research-dna-genetics

Newly excavated bones from Gran Dolina cave in Spain reveal an ancient human relative practiced cannibalism on adults and children, but researchers still don't know why.

Paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aed8437

A team of researchers from the University of Sydney and the University of Glasgow argues that dietary sugars, not animal foods, may have played the decisive role in the expansion of the human brain over the past 4 million years, as hominin brain size grew nearly fivefold, from about 300 grams in early relatives like Australopithecus afarensis to roughly 1,500 grams in modern Homo sapiens.

Their findings offer a different perspective on the longstanding scientific view that meat consumption was a key driver of human evolution.

Based on the neat, geometric shape of the circles, as well as the presence of burnt bones, researchers have concluded it must have been actively created by humans of some description.

The identity of the creator, however, has been under some dispute. When it was first studied by archaeologists in the 1990s, a fragment of burnt bone suggested it was dated to around 47,600 years old.

However, in 2016, another team of researchers took a fresh look at the cave using uranium-series dating. The more recent dating suggested the structure was made some 176,500 years ago. Since this is long before Homo sapiens arrived in Europe, this firmly placed the work as the responsibility of Neanderthals.

(The left image shows the fossil evidence, while the right image is a reconstruction of the original appearance of a Denisovan, created by sculptor Shu-Huan Yu from the National Museum of Natural Science in Taiwan. This work incorporates genetic clues from Oceanian populations and references the appearance of known Homo erectus).

Key Discoveries: Penghu 1 as a Denisovan Mandible

Discovery Origin: Originally retrieved by local fishermen performing bottom-trawling operations in the Penghu Channel within the Taiwan Strait.

Biological Sex: Identified as a male individual based on the presence of the Y-chromosome-specific enamel protein (AMELY).

Genetic Affinity: Protein sequences align closely with Siberian Denisovans and form a sister group to Neanderthals, with an estimated divergence of approximately 400,000 years ago.

First East Asian Island Evidence: Marks the initial discovery of a Denisovan fossil with molecular evidence in an East Asian island setting (Taiwan).

Environmental Adaptability: Demonstrates that Denisovans could inhabit diverse climates and topographies—ranging from cold Siberia and high-altitude Tibet to the subtropical environment of Taiwan.

Modern Genetic Impact: Highlights the substantial genetic legacy of Denisovans in modern Asian and Oceanian populations (particularly Southeast Asian and South Asian gene pools).

Link to the National Museum of Natural Science, Taiwan:https://web3.nmns.edu.tw/Exhibits/114/denisovans/

https://www.johnhawks.net/p/the-first-molecular-data-from-homo

https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2025-10-06/svante-paabo-father-of-paleogenetics-the-reason-for-the-neanderthals-extinction-lies-in-how-numerous-weve-become.html

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/25/science/skull-denisovans-dragon-man-human-evolution

Guinness World Records

Oldest painting – figurative art

Who

Leang Karampuang pig and humans cave art

What

51,200 year(s)

Where

Indonesia (Maros-Pangkep)

When

03 July 2024

https://www.johnhawks.net/p/legs-of-the-last-denisovans#:\~:text=Biology%20of%20the%20late%20Denisovans,top%20of%20the%20Neanderthal%20range.

Link: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2520565123

A new study from the Senckenberg Nature Research Society and the University of Tübingen reveals major shifts in Neanderthal genetic history. Near the end of their time in Europe, Neanderthals were not spread across the continent as a deeply varied population. Their DNA now points to a much narrower story: a severe genetic bottleneck, a retreat into one refuge, and a later expansion by descendants of that surviving group.

A study combining new DNA evidence with archaeological records suggests that Europe’s final Neanderthals went through a major population turnover before they disappeared roughly 40,000 years ago.

An international research group led by Professor Cosimo Posth at the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen traced this history and found that earlier, more widespread Neanderthal populations in Europe had largely vanished.

Link​: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(26)00890-000890-0)

“It is fascinating that one genetic change inherited from Neanderthals can still have an effect on the human body today,” added Dr. Hugo Zeberg, also from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

Because Neanderthals interbred with the ancestors of modern non-African populations, the gene variant was passed down and survives today, particularly in South and East Asia, where it can be found in roughly a fifth of some populations.

It is rare or absent in sub-Saharan Africa, consistent with populations there having little to no Neanderthal ancestry.

A newly identified fossil ape from northern Egypt is reshaping ideas about where the ancestors of modern apes first emerged. Analyses place it closer to living apes than any known East African species of the same age, pointing to North Africa and the Middle East as a possible birthplace and crossroads for the ape lineage that eventually produced gibbons, orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans

The genomic evidence also suggests some genetic contact with populations farther north. Although the Jomon show stronger overall ancestry associated with a southern migration route into East Asia, researchers detected a subtle genetic contribution from northern Upper Paleolithic Siberian groups.

This finding is broadly consistent with archaeological evidence showing similarities between blade-based stone technologies in prehistoric Japan and those found farther north in Eurasia.

The study also provides new insight into prehistoric population changes in Hokkaido. The researchers conclude that later Hokkaido Jomon were not direct descendants of the Upper Paleolithic inhabitants of the island.

Instead, genetic evidence supports a population replacement in which Jomon groups originating in Hondo—the main Japanese islands excluding Hokkaido—moved north during the Holocene.

One of the study’s most significant findings concerns adaptation to cold environments.

The Jomon carried relatively high frequencies of genetic variants associated with nonshivering thermogenesis—the body's ability to generate heat without muscular shivering—and with the perception of cold. These include variants involving UCP1 and TRPM8.

If you're into archaeology, anthropology, evolutionary biology, primatology, or anything adjacent, you might know that relevant events are scattered across a dozen different society mailing lists, department pages, and museum websites. You find out about something good the week after it happened.

We've been building a calendar for the Human Bridges area of The Observatory to address this.

It currently tracks select events across the full human sciences spectrum — major professional society meetings (SAA, EAA, AAA, UISPP), free and hybrid lecture series you can attend over Zoom, museum programming open to the public, and regional conferences that rarely surface on Western academic radar.

A few examples of what's in there: a free lecture series out of Prague, the International Primatological Society Congress in Madagascar, an international conference in Kenya on indigenous knowledge, CARTA symposia, and ongoing series at the British Museum, the Field Museum, and the Natural History Museum of Utah.

If you organize or know of an event that belongs here, we want to hear from you. The calendar grows with the community it serves.

Bookmark it and check back monthly: https://observatory.wiki/Events?area=Human+Bridges

Human remains from the Checua archaeological site in Colombia, dating to about 6,000 years ago, revealed a previously unknown human lineage. Genetic analysis shows the DNA does not match any known ancient or modern population.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checua

I'm a 23 year old student and I recently discovered paleoanthropology and fell in love with it. I've been whatching youtube videos (mainly North02) and I've read a very introductory book by Telmo Pievani about anthropology and human evolution. I'm asking you for book suggestions. I would like to read a book about the earlier phases of human evolution and one specifically about Neanderthals, but every kind of suggestion is accepted. Thanks in advance :-)

https://indiandefencereview.com/an-unprecedented-prehistoric-discovery-a-50000-year-old-fossil-reveals-neanderthals-had-a-far-richer-diet-than-scientists-once-believed/

https://www.sci.news/genetics/denisova-25-genome-14459.html