University of Burgos

A US research team presents new evidence in Science Advances that Sahelanthropus tchadensis was a biped that evolved from an ape ancestor. Based on the study of two partial ulnas and a femur, they conclude that S. tchadensis—the oldest known hominid, which lived around 7 million years ago—had bones similar in size and shape to those of chimpanzees, but with a relative proportion more similar to that of hominids.

Around 840 million women worldwide — nearly one in three — have been victims of physical, psychological or sexual violence by their partner or have suffered sexual violence outside of their relationship, a figure that has barely changed since 2000. This is one of the conclusions of a report led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that analyses data from 168 countries between 2000 and 2023. For the first time, the study includes estimates of sexual violence outside of intimate relationships: 263 million women have suffered this type of assault since the age of 15, a figure that, according to experts, is well below the actual number.

The upper part of the human pelvis, the ilium, underwent two major structural changes during evolution that enabled humans to walk on two legs. One was the formation of cartilage and the second was the process of bone formation. New research identifies differences in the way bone cells are deposited on cartilage in the human ilium, compared to other primates and human long bones. The study, published in Nature, lays the genetic and evolutionary foundations for bipedalism, according to the authors.