DNA controls all of your traits. Right? Well, kind of. The environment can actually control how your DNA works. Learn about how it does this through a series of switches known as epigenetic mechanisms.
Ask An Anthropologist
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A Fossil Named Lucy
The field of paleoanthropology is a young science. There have been many paleoanthropologists over the years who have found many important fossils. But, even by the early 1970s, we didn't know everything about human evolution—and we still don't!
Ask An Anthropologist
Ask An Anthropologist is an educational resource for students, teachers, parents, and life-long learners. We encourage anyone interested in anthropology to make use of its content.
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Becoming human brings together interactive multimedia, research and scholarship to promote greater understanding of the course of human evolution.
Have you ever wondered how your cat, dog, bird, lizard, or fish is related to you? Animal bodies today are like living history books. They tell us a story that goes back at least 500 million years.
Since long ago, the survival of our ancestors has depended in part on technology. Even today, the shoes you put on and the car you drive are both built on previous discoveries. We can trace human technological developments way back to over three million years ago.
What does it mean to be human? Take a look at the story of how we became…well…us. The search for our first ancestors who looked and acted like people today is the search for what it means to be human.
