WELCOME
Issue 167
The three skeletons in the image above are long-extinct species or subspecies of ancient humans: Australopithecus afarensis on the left, which lived in East Africa until around 2.9 million years ago; Homo ergaster in the middle, which lived up until around 1.4 million years ago, and the skeleton of a Neanderthal, which lived in Europe until around 40,000 years ago. All three enjoyed a long success as a species because of their mutations, just like any organism that thrives today. In this issue of How It Works, discover the trial and error that nature performs at the very core of every living thing – its DNA – and the freaky and sometimes fantastic mutations that can appear. Enjoy!