Becoming Human

Becoming Human brings together interactive multimedia, research and scholarship to promote greater understanding of the course of human evolution

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Indicative Fossil from Georgia

October 17, 2013

Dmanisi in the Republic of Georgia is the well known site of the first evidence of Homo erectus outside of Africa and once more has yielded a rich find according to a paper in the journal Science this week. Known informally as Skull 5 and assigned the number D4500, this complete skull required no reconstruction.

Indicative Fossil from Georgia

October 17, 2013

Singing Neanderthals?

October 08, 2013

The questions of when and why intelligent speech developed among humans continue to puzzle researchers. The increasing complexity of fashioning tools, from the simplest of stone implements to heat treatment and forging of metals, has been considered by some researchers as a proxy for intelligent speech but views differ as to where along the spectrum of increasing complexity did speech arise.

Single Mutation Sparks Dietary Revolution

August 02, 2013

A small event can have large consequences. So it is with a single gene controlling the production of an enzyme called lactase. Lactase enables infant mammals to digest lactose, the principal sugar in mother's milk ensuring the newborn has a reliable source of nutrition until able to digest solid food.

BecomingHuman Now On Facebook

August 02, 2013

BecomingHuman.org likes Facebook! And folks fascinated by the six million year human career can find BecomingHuman - the website with news and features on paleoanthropology - on Facebook. Check out our Facebook page. Let us know what you think.

An introduction to the history and crafting of early stone tools - Launch the Presentation Explore human lineage through time: discover your roots over a span of 7 million years - Launch the Interactive Timeline Journey through the story of human evolution in an interactive documentary experience - Launch the Documentary

Becoming Human is an interactive documentary experience that tells the story of our origins. Journey through four million years of human evolution with your guide, Donald Johanson.

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Building Bodies

Upright posture and the ability to walk on two legs are crucial, major adaptations associated with the divergence of the human lineage from a common ancestor with the African apes. Learn how we stood up!
Chromosome Connection

Students are taken on a chromosome comparison "adventure", in which the banding patterns are compared on the chromosomes of humans and apes. Play Chromosome Connection!

Becoming Human

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Building Bodies

Chromosome Connection