early humans | Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University

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Why do we have fingerprints? – Kaylen, 11, North Carolina

December 4, 2025 melissamayer

Dear Kaylen,

I use my paws for all kinds of things. That’s how I adjust my microscope, set up my microphone for a podcast and write answers to science questions. But most cats don’t do those things. Maybe that’s why cats don’t have fingerprints like yours.

I asked my friend Katherine Corn about that. She’s an evolutionary functional morphologist. She studies how animal bodies evolved to do all kinds of jobs. She’s the director of Washington State University’s museum of vertebrate zoology.

Metal shelves holding many glass bottles filled with vertebrate specimens » More …

How did humans invent any language? How did they communicate back then? How did they know that difficult meant hard and what hard meant, too? – Anika, 10, Georgia

July 17, 2025 melissamayer

Dear Anika,

My roommate is a normal cat. When she needs a treat, she smacks her lips. When she wants outside, she paws the door. But she never talks to me using words.

I asked Nancy Bell how my human friends developed language. She studies linguistics at Washington State University.

Bell told me that we don’t know exactly how or when it all started. All kinds of scientists want to figure that out.

“It’s just part of our species that we want to make meaning,” she said. “We want to communicate. That desire is what leads to language.”

Scientists use the word “hominin” … » More …

Are fishes related to humans? – Sarah, 9, Nigeria

February 20, 2025 melissamayer

Dear Sarah,

Tuna, salmon, mackerel. Cats like me are famously big fans of fish. But I’ve never looked at my afternoon sushi and wondered if it’s related to my human friends.

So, I asked one of those friends named Thomas Siek. He’s a biological anthropologist at Washington State University. He studies how humans evolved.

He told me that fish and humans are distant relatives. All vertebrates—animals with backbones—are related.

“Humans and fish aren’t close evolutionary cousins,” Siek said. “We’re part of the same phylum called Chordata. We share a common ancestor. Those in Chordata have backbones. So, this will also include birds, dogs, … » More …

Did dinosaurs eat humans? – Brileigh, 10, North Carolina

March 2, 2023 melissamayer

Dear Brileigh,

If you looked inside a T. rex mouth, you’d see some 12-inch teeth. That’s longer than my tail!

I asked my friend Aaron Blackwell if dinosaurs used those big chompers on humans. He’s an anthropologist who studies human biology at Washington State University. He told me dinosaurs and humans didn’t live at the same time.

“Dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago—before there were even primates,” Blackwell said. “So, they could never have eaten a human or even a monkey.”