Category: Paleontology

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O’Leary

Date
May 29, 2026

Categories
Human Origins and Anthropology
Paleontology
Tagged
, archaeologists, artifacts, backpacking, cosmos, Darwinian evolution, dentistry, elephants, fossils, geodes, geological features, Griffith University, hand stencil, Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, human genome, human mind, human origins, Indonesia, Middle Pleistocene, Moon, Neanderthals, PNAS, religion, Smithsonian Magazine, symbolic thinking, technology, timeline, tools}

It Was Technology, Not the Human Mind, that Advanced

_{Denyse O’Leary
May 29, 2026

Human Origins and Anthropology, Paleontology

4}

At one time, we were encouraged to interpret ancient humans as a long, slow, Darwinian ascent of man. But maybe that didn’t really happen. Read More ›

group of neanderthal cavemen hunting a mammoth, stone age humans

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O’Leary

Date
May 27, 2026

Categories
Human Origins and Anthropology
Paleontology
Tagged
, Alps, anthropology, Ars Technica, Boston University, brain, cannibalism, dentistry, Hebrew University, human origins, humans, Jerusalem, Kiona N. Smith, Levant, Live Science, Neanderthals, Owen Jarus, paleontology, Patrick McNamara, shamanism, Sophie Berdugo, teeth, The Emergence of Religion in Human Evolution, Tinshemet Cave, toolkits, Villaescusa Fernández, writing}

Let’s Catch Up with the Neanderthals!

_{Denyse O’Leary
May 27, 2026

Human Origins and Anthropology, Paleontology

6}

Remember the famous Neanderthal brain that was supposed to be inferior to the modern one, rendering them the big, dumb brutes of legend? Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Casey Luskin

Date
May 23, 2026

Categories
Human Origins and Anthropology
Paleontology
Tagged
, Australopithecines, Australopithecus, Australopithecus afarensis, Australopithecus africanus, bottleneck, chatbots, fossil record, Grok, Homo erectus, Homo ergaster, Homo sapiens, human origins, humanity, John Hawks, paleoanthropology}

Human Evolution Quote: Grok, Is This True?

_{Casey Luskin
May 23, 2026

Human Origins and Anthropology, Paleontology

6}

People are always welcome to change their views in response to what they feel is convincing new evidence. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Casey Luskin

Date
May 22, 2026

Categories
Evolution
Human Origins and Anthropology
Paleontology
Tagged
, anthropology, Aosis, Australopithecines, Australopithecus, autosomes, body plan, body size, bottleneck, brain size, cladogenesis, faces, fossil record, Grok, hominids, Homo, Homo erectus, Homo ergaster, Homo sapiens, human origins, John Hawks, Journal of Molecular Biology and Evolution, Molecular Biology and Evolution, mtDNA, nuchal areas, nuclear DNA, paleoanthropology, population, population size, Religions (journal), Science and Faith in Dialogue, sex chromosomes, skeleton, speciation, Stephen Barr, University of Wisconsin–Madison}

Not Out of Context: Comments on Hawks et al. (2000)

_{Casey Luskin
May 22, 2026

Evolution, Human Origins and Anthropology, Paleontology

14}

The lead author is John Hawks, a professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, who has a popular blog on paleoanthropology. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Casey Luskin

Date
May 21, 2026

Categories
Faith & Science
Genetics
Paleontology
Tagged
, __trending, Ann Gauger, apes, BIO-Complexity, Brown University, Christians, Chromosomal Fusion, chromosomes, common ancestry, crocodiles, Daniel Kuebler, Darwin and Doctrine, Developmental Cell, DNA, Dover trial, Eugenie Scott, evolution, fish, Franciscan University of Steubenville, genes, genetic evidence, GULO, Günter Bechly, human chromosome 2, human genetic diversity, Kenneth Miller, National Center for Science Education, Ola Hössjer, paleontologists, Poland, pseudogenes, Return of the God Hypothesis, Stephen Meyer, tetrapods, theistic evolution, tiktaalik}

Addressing More Icons of Theistic Evolution

_{Casey Luskin
May 21, 2026

Faith & Science, Genetics, Paleontology

10}

Professor Kuebler doesn’t acknowledge the pattern of explosions in the fossil record, but he does cite a supposed transitional form. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Casey Luskin

Date
May 18, 2026

Categories
Evolution
Human Origins and Anthropology
Paleontology
Tagged
, __trending, Ann Gauger, Australopithecines, Australopithecus, brain size, cranial buttressing, dental function, evolution, First Things, God's Grandeur, Homo erectus, Homo rudolfensis, Homo sapiens, human origins, humans, Nature (journal), paleoanthropologists, paleontology, Stephen Barr, theology, University of Delaware}

Physicist Overstates the “Gradual” Nature of Human Origins in the Fossil Record

_{Casey Luskin
May 18, 2026

Evolution, Human Origins and Anthropology, Paleontology

5}

We’ve gone back and forth with Dr. Barr many times in the past. Mainstream paleoanthropologists acknowledge that the origin of humans is sudden and abrupt. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Casey Luskin

Date
May 17, 2026

Categories
Evolution
Paleontology
Tagged
, algae, ambulacrarian, bilaterians, Brazil, burrows, Cambrian Explosion, ctenophore, Ediacaran biota, fossil record, fossils, Gondwana Research, Günter Bechly, GUT, Joseph Botting, macrofossils, Margaretia, microfossils, National Museum Wales, paleontologists, paleontology, perforations, precambrian fossils, preservation, Science (journal), Science Daily, symmetry, Tamengo Formation, worms}

More Challenges to Ediacaran Animal Fossils

_{Casey Luskin
May 17, 2026

Evolution, Paleontology

9}

Joseph Botting is actually very skeptical of the paper’s purported example of an Ediacaran ctenophore, and he believes it is in fact a cnidarian. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Casey Luskin

Date
April 23, 2026

Categories
Evolution
Paleontology
Tagged
, ambulacrarians, bilaterian animals, bilaterians, biological information, Cambrian Explosion, China, Cnidaria, Ctenophora, Darwin’s Doubt, Douglas Erwin, Ediacaran Period, evolutionary mechanisms, fossil record, genes, genetic information, Günter Bechly, Hemichordata, homoplasy, paleontology, phyla, Porifera, precambrian fossils, Science (journal), Scientific American, Stephen Meyer, The Conversation}

The Prescient Günter Bechly: New Paper Doesn’t Negate the Cambrian Explosion

_{Casey Luskin
April 23, 2026

Evolution, Paleontology

7}

Let’s consider the fossils the paper identifies as appearing in the Ediacaran but that belong to phyla previously known to appear first in the Cambrian. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Casey Luskin

Date
April 20, 2026

Categories
Evolution
Paleontology
Tagged
, air bladder, animals, beach, beachcombing, bilaterian animals, brown algae, Cambrian Explosion, Cambrian News, convergent evolution, Ediacaran biota, Ediacaran fossils, evolutionary theory, fauna, flora, fossil-hunting, fossils, hemichordate worms, holdfast, kelp, kelp stipe, Kingdom Protista, Margaretia dorus, Pacific Northwest, paleontology, plants, Precambrian strata, protists, rock hammer, Science (journal), tide-pooling, Western Washington}

Beach Stroll Casts Further Doubt on Some Supposed Ediacaran Bilaterian Fossils

_{Casey Luskin
April 20, 2026

Evolution, Paleontology

3}

In one instance I found a kelp on the beach with its holdfast still nicely attached. A photo of it is at the top. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Casey Luskin

Date
April 20, 2026

Categories
Evolution
Paleontology
Tagged
, ambulacrarians, ancestors, bilaterians, Cambrian Explosion, Cambrian News, cambroernids, Charnia, China, chordates, cladogram, cnidarians, crinoid, ctenophores, Current Biology, Ediacaran strata, fossils, Haootia, holdfast, Jiangchuan Biota, kelp, mackenziid, Margaretia dorus, Precambrian, Profera, Science (journal), Scientific American, The Conversation, vermiform, worms}

Science Paper Overstates Case for “Diverse Assemblage of Bilaterians” in the Ediacaran

_{Casey Luskin
April 20, 2026

Evolution, Paleontology

14}

I suspect the bilaterian nature of this “most numerous” fossil will be challenged as more studies come out. Read More ›