![Australopithecus sediba silhouette showing the newly-found vertebrae along with other skeletal remains from the species. The enlarged detail (a photograph of the fossils in articulation on the left; micro-computed tomography models on the right) shows the newly discovered fossils, in colour on the right between previously known elements in grey. Right: Life reconstruction of Australopithecus sediba com-missioned by the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History. [? Sculpture: Elisabeth Daynes / Photograph: S. Entres?sangle]](https://images.newscientistbeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/23130516/PRI_211648445.jpg)
23 November 2021
The discovery of new Australopithecus sediba fossils mean we can now reconstruct most of the spine of one individual, and strengthen the case that the species was bipedal at least some of the time
13 March 2020
We thought hominins evolved to run around 2 million years ago – but a study of the famous Lucy's species, Australopithecus afarensis, suggests she could run too
27 January 2020
The teeth of a man who lived in prehistoric Africa are worn in a way that suggests he had three facial piercings, the second oldest such find in the world
6 November 2019
An extinct ape that lived in Germany 11.6 million years ago may have been bipedal – even though walking upright is the hallmark of more human-like species
20 September 2019
We thought that walking on all fours like a gorilla is more primitive than walking on two legs as humans do. But new fossils suggest even very ancient apes walked upright
28 August 2019
A skull found in Ethiopia has been identified as belonging to Australopithecus anamensis, which lived 4 million years ago and may be one of our direct ancestors
16 April 2019
A study of some 8-million-year-old teeth found in Greece suggests a controversial idea: that hominins arose in Europe and then moved into Africa later
10 April 2019
An analysis of ancient bones has revealed a previously unknown human species named Homo luzonensis that lived in the Philippines 50,000 years ago
18 December 2018
We will start to learn what a host of ancient animal and early human remains really are, thanks to new techniques for analysing tiny fragments of fossil remains
6 December 2018
A skeleton found decades ago in South Africa may be a new species of Australopithecus, and could help reveal when our ancestors evolved to walk on two feet
