Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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2025 was another exciting year in human origins research! In this episode, four scientists and Leakey Foundation grantees (and one podcast host) share their picks for the top discoveries of the year.

Links to learn more:

New research reveals the hand of Paranthropus boisei
nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09594-8

Earliest evidence of making fire
nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09855-6

Complete sequencing of ape genomes
nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08816-3

Highly selective cannibalism in the Late Pleistocene of Northern Europe reveals Neandertals were targeted prey
nature.com/articles/s41598-025-24460-3

Denisovan mitochondrial DNA from dental calculus of the 146,000-year-old Harbin cranium
cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(25)00627-0