Discovering Us The Leakey Foundation

Bonobos are close cousins of humans, known for their highly active sex lives and peaceful female-centered social structure. In this episode, Ashley Judd shares how researchers studying bonobos are unlocking the secrets of female friendship.

This installment of Discovering Us tells the story of an unusual group of chimpanzees that live on the grassy plains of Fongoli, Senegal where temperatures reach over 110 degrees. Water is scarce, and wildfires sweep through every year - burning the leaves from the trees and baking the soil. These chimpanzees have adapted to their environment in surprising ways that can shed light on the evolution of our own species.

Why are humans such social creatures? In this episode, Ashley Judd explores the origins of social behavior by taking you inside the minds of a troop of baboons living in Botswana’s Okovango Delta.

Neanderthals lived from around 400,000 years ago to around 40,000 years ago. Scientists are still working to understand how and why Neanderthals went extinct. This episode takes you to the island of Gibraltar–where researchers think the very last surviving population of Neanderthals lived and died.

One thing that’s special about humans is the way we express ourselves through art and music. Ancient humans were no different. The art they left on cave walls and carved in stone lives on. It gives us a profound connection to our ancestors and their creative, complex lives. In this episode, Ashley Judd explores some of the earliest art ever discovered.

In this episode of Discovering Us, Ashley Judd takes you to Ice Age Europe, where a stunning discovery paints a picture of how early humans survived in a harsh and highly competitive landscape.