Lead exposure may have spelled evolutionary success for humans—and extinction for our ancient cousins—but other scientists ...

When we think of lead poisoning, most of us imagine modern human-made pollution, paint, old pipes, or exhaust fumes.

An international study changes the view that exposure to the toxic metal lead is largely a post-industrial phenomenon. The ...

Long before factories, mines, and cars filled the air with pollution, our distant ancestors were already living with a silent ...

A million-year-old skull from China, Yunxian 2, reshapes our understanding of human origins and ancient human relatives.

Lead poisoning isn’t just an industrial-age problem. A new study reveals our ancestors, including Neanderthals, were exposed ...

The significant push back in the date of origin of modern-day humans is notable. It indicates that, in the last 800,000 years ...

Lead exposure remains a public health issue around the world, even after decades of remediation efforts. According to the ...

Long before humans built cities or wrote words, our ancestors may have faced a hidden threat that shaped who we became. Scientists studying ancient teeth found that early humans, great apes, and even ...

The findings have the potential to resolve the longstanding "Muddle in the Middle" of human evolution, researchers said.

A new study suggests that exposure to lead may have limited brain and language development in Neanderthals, but a gene ...