Macabre ingredient may have helped murals on Chinese cliffs survive nearly 2000 years of weathering

A study finds that Neanderthals had comparable insect trace evidence as gorillas and western chimpanzees.

Ancient DNA traces in teeth and genes reveal that insects played a minor role in prehistoric European diets.

Teeth define mammalian evolution, and one of many adaptive dental breakthroughs in crown mammals is the tribosphenic molar: a tooth with a dual shearing-crushing function, often considered a key adapt...

YouTube video by Conversations with Vania

Homo floresiensis scavenged Stegodon and did not use fire, challenging previous claims of advanced behavior.

A selection of recent research from Africa

Join us to celebrate the life and work of Andy Currant (1952 –2026), long-serving Curator of Fossil Mammals at the Natural History Museum.

Archaeologists have so far uncovered

Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.

Develop the ability to generate, assess and synthesise empirical evidence and hypotheses related to human evolution and behaviour.

YouTube video by New Scientist

YouTube video by New Scientist

Nature - Baked sediment, heat-shattered artefacts and introduced pyrite in a 400,000-year-old Palaeolithic occupation site in Suffolk, UK provide evidence of intentional fire-making, marking a...

Where do we really come from?

YouTube video by Chris Stringer

THE HUXLEY MEMORIAL LECTURE 2023 - Prof Chris StringerTitle: Mostly Out of Africa: how, when and where Held on Tuesday 7 November 2023 at the Natural History...

World-leading fossil expert Chris Stringer guides us through latest evidence on fossils, Denisovans and DNA from China

World-leading fossil expert Chris Stringer guides us through latest evidence on fossils, Denisovans and DNA from China

YouTube video by Conversations with Vania

YouTube video by Conversations with Vania

Diverse forms of Homo coexisted during the Middle Pleistocene. Whether these fossil humans represent different species or clades is debated. The ~1-million-year-old Yunxian 2 fossil from China is impo...

YouTube video by New Scientist

YouTube video by New Scientist

And our ancestors may have originated outside of Africa.

YouTube video by Chris Stringer

YouTube video by Chris Stringer

And our ancestors may have originated outside of Africa.