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New research shows they shared many behaviors that we long believed to be uniquely human. Why did science get them so wrong?

In August 2016, Madison received a grant funded by the John Templeton Foundation, titled “Seeking Humanness in Fossils: What Does it Mean and How Do We Know?” For the grant research, Madison has spent much of this academic year traveling to England, South Africa, and Indonesia to learn more about the stories of fossil human ancestors.

Video of talk showing examples two episodes in the history of human palaeontology in which scientists promoted an idea that good science is public facing science, the Taung Child discovered in 1925 and the Homo naledi remains found in 2013.

“This was one of the pioneering works in the history of paleoanthropology,” explains Madison. “Huxley’s argumentative strategy is wonderful. At a time when it was hard to get away from preconceived notions about human evolution, Huxley asks his readers to...