2024 was another amazing year in human origins research. In this episode, three Leakey Foundation grantees (and one podcast host) share their picks for the most exciting discoveries of the year.
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Links to learn more
All research articles are open-access and free to read
On the genetic basis of tail-loss evolution in humans and apes
Why don’t humans have tails? Scientists find answers in an unlikely place
Long genetic and social isolation in Neanderthals before their extinction
Meet Thorin: A cave-dwelling population of Neanderthals isolated for 50,000 years
Recurrent evolution and selection shape structural diversity at the amylase locus
How early humans evolved to eat starch
Footprint evidence for locomotor diversity and shared habitats among early Pleistocene hominins
Fossilized footprints reveal two extinct hominin species living side by side 1.5 million years ago