Top Human Origins Discoveries of 2024

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