HUMAN EVOLUTION
Homo erectus, our ancient ancestor
9 October 2018
Learn about the longest-surviving human species, which was also the first known to leave Africa.
SCIENCE NEWS
What birds can teach us about evolution
8 October 2018
A new study is helping to explain how evolution works.
NEWS
Fat molecules preserved in a 558-million-year-old fossil help settle decades-old debate
21 September 2018
The discovery of cholesterol is consistent with Dickinsonia being an animal.
The oldest drawing ever found is a stone 'hashtag'
12 September 2018
The earliest human drawing, dating back to the Stone Age, has been found in a cave in South Africa.
Homo naledi, your most recently discovered human relative
5 September 2018
Meet your long-lost relative and find out why their discovery has had such an impact on our family tree.
Ancient child from Siberia was Neanderthal and Denisovan hybrid
23 August 2018
Fragments of bone from a Siberian cave reveal ancient human species were mating.
New species of fossil wombat unearthed in the Australian outback
22 August 2018
The fossils will help us understand how these creatures evolved over the past 40 million years.
Ancient human teeth suggest new links between prehistoric African populations
1 August 2018
The teeth are helping us to understand how ancient human populations interacted.
Cave life: creatures that lurk in the shadows
23 July 2018
Discover the rocky abyss and meet some unusual residents thriving in the absolute darkness of caves.
The way we have been thinking about the first modern humans in Africa could be wrong
11 July 2018
A new paper challenges the traditional idea that our species evolved from a single population in one region of Africa.
Who's afraid of the dark?
9 July 2018
Explore some of nature's most extreme sensory adaptations with leading scientists from the Museum.
New evidence of ancient child sacrifice found in Turkey
28 June 2018
Remains of young people who were ritually sacrificed have been found from Bronze Age Mesopotamia.
Watch a pterosaur fly
8 June 2018
This animal is Anhanguera, a flying reptile that lived with the dinosaurs. Have a look at how it might have flown.
DINOSAURS
Why are birds the only surviving dinosaurs?
23 May 2018
Watch our animation to find out.
Creating a computer-generated Neanderthal
11 May 2018
Hollywood star Andy Serkis worked with Museum experts to create an animated Neanderthal.
Who were the Neanderthals?
5 May 2018
Explore Neanderthal facts, from looks to lifestyle and abilities. These early humans are far more similar to us than once believed.
The sting of love
30 April 2018
Meet some of the animals whose search for a mate may actually be physically painful.
New Centre for Human Evolution Research announced
25 April 2018
The new centre will allow scientists to collaborate more closely and share pioneering research.
Superior senses in the dark
From bioluminescent lures to infrared abilities, meet some of the animals that have found ways to master life in the dark.
How is a mouse like a giraffe?
16 April 2018
They may certainly look different, but mice and giraffes are more similar than you might think.
OCEANS
Survival at the ocean's hot springs
15 August 2018
Oceans are crucial for life on Earth - but did it begin at a hydrothermal vent?
What was Toxodon?
9 April 2018
This large extinct mammal proved a puzzle for Charles Darwin when he first came across it.
245-million-year-old reptile finally gets a name
29 March 2018
Scientists have formally given an ancient reptile a name, over 80 years since its fossils were found in Tanzania.
Ancient human DNA recovered from the oldest cemetery in Africa
16 March 2018
Museum archaeologists have helped to uncover clues to the people who lived in North Africa 15,000 years ago.
Plant life on Earth is much older than we thought
26 February 2018
Plants appeared on Earth 100 million years earlier than scientists previously thought.
The Beaker people: a new population for ancient Britain
22 February 2018
Ancient DNA reveals that the British population was all but wiped out and replaced roughly 4,400 years ago.
Bringing a Neanderthal to life: the making of our model
17 February 2018
Discover the science and art involved in making the Museum's Neanderthal and early modern human models.
COLLECTIONS
Charles Darwin: history's most famous biologist
9 February 2018
Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) transformed the way we understand the natural world with ideas that, in his day, were nothing short of revolutionary.
Cheddar Man: Mesolithic Britain's blue-eyed boy
18 April 2018
What did humans in Britain look like 10,000 years ago?
Humans left Africa 40,000 years earlier than we thought
25 January 2018
A newly-discovered fossil jawbone has revealed that Homo sapiens had already left Africa 180,000 years ago.
Documentary to reveal surprising face of Britain’s oldest complete human
24 January 2018
A television documentary will follow Museum scientists as they help deduce the astonishing facial appearance of Britain's oldest complete skeleton, Cheddar Man.
Alice Roberts: How the Museum has inspired me
11 January 2018
TV presenter, author and academic Alice Roberts shares memories of the Museum and how it influenced her fascination with human evolution.
Who was Alfred Russel Wallace?
8 January 2018
An intrepid explorer and brilliant naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace co-published the theory of evolution by natural selection with Charles Darwin.
The making of an island
15 December 2017
Discover how the changing climate of the past million years affected Britain's coastline and the presence of humans.
The cannibals of Gough's Cave
Dr Silvia Bello tells us about the gruesome yet fascinating behaviour of people living in a Somerset cave 14,700 years ago.
First Britons
Unearth the one-million-year story of humans in Britain and their struggle to survive in a changing land.
How did birds become so colourful? Find out.
13 December 2017
The public can help scientists study how the colours in bird plumages evolved.
The venomous animals on your plate
8 November 2017
Venomous creatures are everywhere - including in your dinner.
Life in the Jurassic ocean
3 November 2017
What was the ocean like when dinosaurs roamed the Earth?
Dinosaur Q&A: What was Chilesaurus diegosuarezi?
17 August 2017
This dinosaur has a strange combination of body parts. Museum expert Prof Paul Barrett explains why.
