Over a million years ago, Homo erectus defied the extreme conditions of African deserts. A recent study reveals how this ancestor of humanity thrived in arid environments, long before Homo sapiens.

A near complete skull fossil found in Antarctica has revealed the oldest known modern bird — a mallard duck-size creature related to the waterfowl that live by lakes and oceans today ...

By starting to eat calorie-dense meat and marrow instead of the low-quality plant diet of apes, our direct ancestor, Homo erectus, took in enough extra energy at each meal to help fuel a bigger brain.

The fossilized skull of a bird called Vegavis, which lived in the Antarctic some 68.7 million years ago, confirms it was an early member of the waterfowl group. However, the skull also suggests ...

The new skull exhibits a long, pointed beak and a brain shape unique among all known birds previously discovered from the Mesozoic Era. The Late Cretaceous modern (crown) bird, Vegavis iaai, is diving ...

A paleontologist journeys through Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago in search of our earliest ancestors, and uncovers how ...