ancestor

An ancestor first lost its paired eyes after becoming largely inactive, retained a simple central eye, and later used parts of that structure to build a new and more advanced visual system.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026

The researchers say the use of touch to build trust and cooperation may date back at least seven million years, before humans, chimpanzees and bonobos split from a common ancestor.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

Eight of out 10 of Sumba's population of 685,000 people are Christian, but its older "marapu" belief system, that blends animism and ancestor worship, has deep roots.

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

Named after the famous fossilized human ancestor discovered in Ethiopia in 1974, Lucy is on its way to become the first mission to explore Jupiter's Trojan asteroids.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 25, 2026

“Are you telling me that our ancestor Alonso Mieras was the pirate captain known as Aliento de Perro?”

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein

My mother’s ancestors and my father’s boyhood and Sappho’s fragments and the sea that raised me are all still there, waiting, under a sky the color of alarm.

From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026

For our ancient ancestors, this meant that if weight was lost in hard times, their bodies would be able to “get back” to their usual weight during better times.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026

We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as a civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.

From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026

His ancestors on both sides were mill workers.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

George’s ancestors had lived in this part of the world for millennia and had been the ones to greet the first French trappers who ventured north from Montreal in the 1600s.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz