Top Human Origins Discoveries of 2024

2024 was another amazing year in human origins research. In this episode, three Leakey Foundation grantees (and one podcast host) share their picks for the most exciting discoveries of the year. Support this show and the science we talk about. Your tax-deductible gift to The Leakey Foundation will be quadruple-matched through midnight on December 31! Click here to donate.  Want more science between podcast episodes? Join our monthly newsletter for human origins news and updates from Origin Stories and The Leakey Foundation. Links to learn more All research articles are open-access and free to read On the genetic basis of tail-loss evolution in humans and apes Why don’t humans have tails? Scientists find answers in an unlikely place Long genetic and social isolation in Neanderthals before their extinction Meet Thorin: A cave-dwelling population of Neanderthals isolated for 50,000 years Recurrent evolution and selection shape structural diversity at the amylase locus How early humans evolved to eat starch Footprint evidence for locomotor diversity and shared habitats among early Pleistocene hominins Fossilized footprints reveal two extinct hominin species living side by side 1.5 million years ago