The Neanderthal Story Keeps Evolving (Even if Nothing Else Does)

arithmetic, DNA, egg cells, footprints, genetics, Homo sapiens, Human Origins and Anthropology, James Woodford, modern humans, Monte Clérigo, Neanderthals, New Scientist, obstetrics, paleontology, Patrick Eppenberger, PIEZO1, population disparities, sperm, stillbirths, Switzerland, University of Seville, University of Zurich
The University of Seville announces that Neanderthal footprints found along Portugal’s Algarve coast have led to unexpected insights about Neanderthal culture. Source
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Skulls from China Said to Push Origin of Homo sapiens Back to 1 Million Years 

Ann Gauger, BBC, China, Chris Stringer, Denisovans, Evolution, fossil record, Homo heidelbergensis, Homo longi, Homo sapiens, homoplasy, Human Origins, Human Origins and Anthropology, Intelligent Design, Live Science, London, Middle Pleistocene, Natural History Museum, Neanderthals, Ola Hössjer, paleoanthropologists, paleontology, Science (journal), skulls, Yunxian skulls
How many times have we been told that some new paleoanthropological find is “rewriting the story of human evolution”? Source
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Investigation of Ancient Burials Yields Surprises

Archaeology, Associated Press, bones, brain, burial, Colin Barras, Evolution, Homo naledi, Homo sapiens, Human Origins and Anthropology, Melanie Lidman, Michael Egnor, Neanderthals, New Scientist, Rising Star Cave, skeletons, stereotype, teeth, The Immortal Mind, Tinshemet Cave, Yossi Zaidner
Archaeologists are reporting on a group culture around death from 100,000 years ago, maybe involving both Neanderthals and modern humans. Source
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Slow-Witted? Neanderthals Invented Their Own Tech — Didn’t Copy

archaeologists, Archaeology, Ars Technica, Bob Yirka, bone tip, Caucasus Mountains, Eurasia, Europe, Homo sapiens, Human Origins, Human Origins and Anthropology, humans, Kiona N. Smith, Liubov V. Golovanova, Mezmaiskaya Cave, Neanderthals, paleontology, Phys.org, Technology, weapons
Neanderthals cannot be the missing link that many paleontologists are looking for. But if the human mind has no history, there is no missing link. Source
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Science Writing Tries to Smash Human Exceptionalism

Africa, Amanda Richardson, animal behavior, antiquity, BBC News, Bronze Age, chimpanzees, Claire Asher, Côte D’Ivoire, Culture & Ethics, England, Homo sapiens, human exceptionalism, human mind, humans, Ice Age, Merlin, metal tools, monkeys, Neuroscience & Mind, New Stone Age, paleontology, polar bears, Royal BC Museum, Salisbury, Stone Age, stone tools, vultures, walruses
Stone tool use among animals versus the Stone Age provides a useful illustration of the tendency. Source
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Fossil Friday: New Evidence for the Human Nature of Neanderthals

anatomy, antibiotics, Australian aboriginals, behavior, Bence Viola, biospecies, body decoration, cave art, cavemen, eagle talons, Fossil Friday, gene pool, genetic admixture, glue, Homo neanderthalensis, Homo sapiens, Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, human nature, Human Origins, human uniqueness, jewelry, lordosis, mating partners, Michael Shermer, native Australians, Neanderthals, ochre, painkillers, paleontology, seafood, spinal curvature, stone circles, Svante Pääbo, Thomas Huxley, University of Toronto
What is at stake is not just some esoteric species problem in the ivory tower, but the very question of human nature and human uniqueness. Source
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Intelligent Design at High Altitudes

adaptive evolution, altitude, Andes, biology, bioRxiv, California, convergent evolution, Current Biology, epigenetics, Evolution, genes, Himalayas, Homo sapiens, hypobaric hypoxia, Intelligent Design, Jay Storz, Mars, mice, Mount Everest Summiters Club, Mount Whitney, mummies, Nepal, Phyllotis vaccarum, radiocarbon dating, Sherpas, University of Nebraska
Surprised at the ability of mammals to thrive at high altitudes, some evolutionists are looking to Darwinian theory for answers. Source
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Researchers: Neanderthals Invented Process to Produce Birch Tar

23andMe, antiseptic, birch tar, birch wood, Clive Finlayson, Germany, Gibraltar Museum, glue, Homo sapiens, Human Origins, insect repellent, intelligence, Michael Shermer, Middle Palaeolithic, missing link, Neanderthals, Neuroscience & Mind, paleontology, Patrick Schmidt, ScienceAlert, University of Tübingen
The tar can be used for glue, bug repellent, and killing germs. This finding tracks growing recognition of Neanderthals as intelligent. Source
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Does the Scientific Evidence Support Evolutionary Models of Human Origins?

Adam and Eve, Adam and the Genome, Australopithecines, Australopithecus, BioLogos, chimpanzees, computational biology, Dennis Venema, Endogenous retroviruses, Evolution, evolutionary creation, evolutionary mechanisms, fossil record, Francis Collins, Homo sapiens, human evolution, Human Origins, humans, Joshua Swamidass, Junk DNA, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, Nature (journal), Nature Ecology and Evolution, Nature Reviews Genetics, Ola Hössjer, population genetics, pseudogenes, Queen Mary University London, Richard Buggs, theistic evolution, University of Stockholm, Washington University
The fossil record shows a break between the australopithecines, supposedly directly ancestral to our genus, and the first humanlike members of the genus. Source
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