What's Hot in Human Origins?
What Does It Mean To Be Human?
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Visit the Exhibit
Featured Research
'Hobbits' on Flores, Indonesia
New digs and geological dating in Liang Bua Cave, Indonesia, show that Homo floresiensis, nicknamed the “hobbit” for its small size, became extinct around 50,000 years ago – tens of thousands of years earlier than originally thought.
For Teachers
AP Biology Curriculum Materials
Are you an AP Biology teacher? Click here for freely downloadable curriculum materials aligned to the AP learning objectives that use human case studies to teach core evolutionary principles and a resource to help teachers create a comfortable and supportive classroom environment for teaching evolution.
Lesson Plans
Human Evolution: Religious Perspectives
Human Evolution: Religious Perspectives
The Hall of Human Origins offers a welcoming place to explore one of the most exciting areas of science, the study of human evolution. Despite strong public interest in the science, however, many people find this topic troubling when viewed from a religious perspective. Representatives of diverse religious communities encourage a larger, more respectful understanding of both the scientific evidence and religious belief.
Featured Media
How To Tell a Rock from a Stone Tool
How can you tell if a rock is actually an early stone tool? Watch this video to find out.
Designing the Exhibition
This video takes you behind-the-scenes into the process of designing and building the Smithsonian's Hall of Human Origins.
Fun Facts
Chickens, chimpanzees, and you - what do they have in common?
All modern humans are 99.9% similar to one another in the part of the human genome that codes for proteins. In equivalent areas of the genome, we are 98.8% genetically similar to chimpanzees, 75% genetically similar to chickens, and even 60% genetically similar to banana trees! Humans share large portions of our genome with other organisms due to similar basic functions across the animal kingdom.