In 1758, Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus gave humans a scientific name: Homo sapiens, which means "wise human" in Latin. Although Linnaeus grouped humans with other apes, it was English biologist ...

(Special to The Root) — Skin color is one of our most important biological traits. Its many shades evolved as humans moved far and wide into regions with different intensities of sunlight. Skin color ...

For decades, scientists assumed that the first modern humans to arrive in Europe, around 45,000 years ago, quickly evolved pale skin to adapt to the region’s dim sunlight. The logic seemed ...

Sarah Tishkoff Of the University of Pennsylvania led a collaborative team of researchers who have discovered key insights into the molecular basis of skin color differences among Africans. “There’s so ...

The commonly accepted theory of skin color evolution holds that early humans developed lighter skin as they moved away from Africa and into Europe’s northern latitudes. The idea was that lighter skin ...

In an effort to combat the increasingly divisive nature of our society and unlearn prejudices, the university will be hosting internationally-recognized biological anthropologist Dr. Nina Jablonski at ...

To the Editor: Summertime is a good time to talk about human hair and skin. They are the corresponding body parts that contributed to the evolutionary appearance of modern humans. Most of the ...