24Feb 2026 by Post

Like It Never Happened: Yunxian Skulls Reassigned Based on Evolution, Not Data

Archaeology, China, Chris Stringer, Denisovans, Evolution, evolutionary narrative, evolutionary timeline, Günter Bechly, hominins, Homo erectus, Homo longi, Homo sapiens, human evolution, Human Origins and Anthropology, London, media, morphological data, morphology, Natural History Museum, paleoanthropologists, paleontology, revision, Rick Potts, Science (journal), Science Advances, skulls, Susan Antón, Xiaobo Feng, Yunxian 2, Yunxian skulls
As Günter Bechly used to wryly observe, human evolution is a subject that is constantly being “rewritten,” often accompanied by much media fanfare. Source
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23Feb 2026 by Post

Paper Defends Spoken Language in Homo erectus

Acheulean stone tools, Africa, Biological Theory, brain size, brain volume, Denisovans, encephalization quotient, Evolution, FOXP2, genes, Homo erectus, Human Origins, Human Origins and Anthropology, humans, hunting, hyoid, Indonesia, intellectual capabilities, language, laryngeal air sacs, linguistic communication, linguistics, modern humans, Neanderthals, seafaring, speaking, symbols, thinking
The first thing that comes to mind in the context of intellectual capabilities is brain size. Source
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01Nov 2022 by Post

Human Origins: All in the Family

art, Australopithecines, burial, chain mail, Creativity, Culture, Donald Johanson, Erik Trinkaus, footprints, fossil record, Fossils and Human Evolution (series), Francesco d’Errico, habilines, Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis, Homo sapiens, Human Origins, Nature (journal), Neanderthals, Oxford University Press, paintings, paleoanthropologists, paleontology, Siegrid Hartwig-Scherer, Stephen Molnar, symbolic thought, Technology, total energy expenditure, University of Bordeaux, Washington University
If a Neanderthal walked down the street, appropriately dressed, you probably wouldn’t notice. Source
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31Oct 2022 by Post

The Big Bang Origin of Homo

Allen Institute for Brain Science, Australopithecines, Australopithecus, biology, brain size, Christof Koch, cranial buttressing, dental function, Ernst Mayr, Eurasia, Evolution, fossil record, Fossils and Human Evolution (series), hominins, Homo erectus, Homo habilis, Homo sapiens, Human Origins, humans, Journal of Molecular Biology and Evolution, paleoanthropologists, Pleistocene, skulls, Southeast Asia
This unbridged gap between the ape-like australopithecines and the abruptly appearing human-like members of our genus challenges evolutionary accounts. Source
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12Nov 2021 by Post

Traditional or Not? Assessing William Lane Craig’s Model on Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve, Aeon, Annual Review of Anthropology, Bernard Wood, brain size, Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution, chimpanzees, Denisovans, DNA, Donald Johanson, Evolution, Evolutionary Anthropology (journal), Faith & Science, Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, Homo sapiens, Human Origins, In Quest of the Historical Adam, Joshua Swamidass, Lucy, Mark Collard, Middle Pleistocene, most recent common ancestor, Neanderthals, nonhuman hominins, paleontology, pseudogenes, Review of Craig's In Quest of the Historical Adam (series), Science (journal), total energy expenditure, william lane craig
I’m having trouble making sense of exactly what his model holds. And it seems I’m not alone. Source
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09Jan 2020 by Post

Reflections on Our Ancient Past

Africa, ancient past, BIO-Complexity, bottleneck, coalescence, de novo creation, Denisovans, DNA, genetic diversity, Homo erectus, Human Origins, methodological naturalism, Neanderthals, Ola Hössjer, population genetics
This past October, Ola Hössjer and I published a paper, “A Single-Couple Human Origin Is Possible.” Writing in the journal BIO-Complexity, we described a model that used standard population genetics methods but refined in a new way to permit calculation of larger data arrays deeper in time. Using this model we were able to demonstrate that an initial couple could indeed give rise to the modern human population. That paper discussed the possibility of a first couple, but it did not distinguish between two alternatives. The single couple could have had a de novo origin, meaning to start from the beginning. This alternative is one most scientists choose to ignore since it does not fit with methodological naturalism (MN), the philosophical position that only “natural” explanations are allowed in science.…
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