A central goal of paleoanthropology is understanding the role of ecological change in
hominin evolution. Over the past several decades researchers have expanded the hominin …

Africa's fossil record of late Cenozoic mammals documents considerable ecological and
evolutionary changes through time. Here, we synthesize those changes in the context of the …

Increasing body and brain size constitutes a key macro-evolutionary pattern in the hominin
lineage, yet the mechanisms behind these changes remain debated. Hypothesized drivers …

Humans are unique in their diet, physiology and socio-reproductive behavior compared to
other primates. They are also unique in the ubiquitous adaptation to all biomes and habitats …

Understanding the climatic drivers of environmental variability (EV) during the Plio-
Pleistocene and EV's influence on mammalian macroevolution are two outstanding foci of …

The influence of climate change on hominin evolution is much debated. Two issues hamper
our understanding of this process: the limited hominin fossil record, and incomplete …

The relationship between climate and human evolution is complex, and the causal
mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we review and synthesize what is currently known …

Abstract Past North African humid periods caused expanded vegetation over the Sahara,
due to northward tropical African rainbelt displacement, opening migration pathways for …

Reliable estimates of when hominin taxa originated and went extinct are central to
addressing many paleoanthropological questions, including those relating to …

The search for drivers of hominin speciation and extinction has tended to focus on the
impact of climate change. Far less attention has been paid to the role of interspecific …