New finds in the palaeoanthropological and genomic records have changed our view of the
origins of modern human ancestry. Here we review our current understanding of how the …

The primary biological role of human skin pigmentation is as a mediator of penetration of
ultraviolet radiation (UVR) into the deep layers of skin and the cutaneous circulation. Since …

Despite broad agreement that Homo sapiens originated in Africa, considerable uncertainty
surrounds specific models of divergence and migration across the continent. Progress is …

Our knowledge of ancient human population structure in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly
prior to the advent of food production, remains limited. Here we report genome-wide DNA …

Abstract The southern African indigenous Khoe-San populations harbor the most divergent
lineages of all living peoples. Exploring their genomes is key to understanding deep human …

While introgression from Neanderthals and Denisovans has been documented in modern
humans outside Africa, the contribution of archaic hominins to the genetic variation of …

The past half century has seen a move from a multiregionalist view of human origins to
widespread acceptance that modern humans emerged in Africa. Here the authors argue that …

A climate/vegetation model simulates episodic wetter and drier periods at the 21,000-y
precession period in eastern North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Levant over the …

As the ancestral homeland of our species, Africa contains elevated levels of genetic diversity
and substantial population structure. Importantly, African genomes are heterogeneous: They …

Postcranial bones may provide valuable information about fossil taxa relating to their
locomotor habits, manipulative abilities and body sizes. Distinctive features of the …