Gibbons, A.: "Mitochondrial Eve—Wounded but Not Dead Yet," Science, vol. 257, August 1992, pages 873-75. An account of the disputed mitochondrial DNA analysis pointing to an African origin for modern Homo sapiens.

Gore, R.: "Neanderthals," National Geographic, January 1996, pages 2–35. Early humans in Europe were quite different from people today.

Johanson, D. and B. Edgar.: From Lucy to Language, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1996. An excellent overview of the current ferment within human anthropology, with superb photographs of the key fossils.

Johanson, D.: "Face-to-Face with Lucy’s Family," National Geographic, March 1996, pages 96–115. The discovery of Australopithecus afarensis, the immediate ancestor of humans.

Kahn, P. and A. Gibbons: "DNA from an Extinct Human," Science, vol. 277, July 1997, pages 176–78. A careful study of DNA from Neanderthals reveals them to be far older than previously thought.

Leakey, M.: "The Dawn of Humans—The Farthest Horizon," National Geographic, September 1995, pages 38–51. The base of the hominid tree is revealed by fossils of ape-like hominids that walked upright 4 million years ago.

Leakey, M. and A. Walker: "Early Hominid Fossils from Africa," Scientific American, June 1997, pages 74–79. A new species of bipedal Australopithecus, A. anamensis, is the earliest member of the genus yet discovered.

Tattersall, I.: The Fossil Trail: How We Know What We Think We Know About Human Evolution, Oxford University Press, New York, 1995. A lovely account of how what we expect to find influences our interpretation of what we do find in the fossil record.

Tattersall, I.: "Out of Africa Again . . . and Again," Scientific American, April 1997, pages 60–67. Recent results support a single and comparatively recent origin for H. sapiens, very likely in Africa.

Thorne, A. and M. Wolpoff: "The Multiregional Evolution of Humans," Scientific American, April 1992, pages 76–83. The argument against the African origin of modern H. sapiens.

Wood, B.: "The Oldest Hominid Yet," Nature, September 1994, pages 280-81. An account of the discovery of Ardipithecus ramidus, a primitive early hominid linking hominids with chimpanzees. This important find was first reported by Tim White and others in a more technical companion article on pages 306-12 in the same issue.