Human evolutionary developmental biology

Human evolutionary developmental biology is a fancy way of saying how people have changed and evolved over a long time. Imagine you have a baby picture and a picture of how you look now. You look different, right? Your body has changed as you've grown up.

Well, humans have been changing too, but over a much longer time. Thousands and thousands of years! We are curious about how this happened and how we became the way we are today.

Just like you grow and change, babies born thousands of years ago may have been different from babies born today. And not just any difference, but changes that happened because of something called evolution.

Evolution is when living things change over time because certain traits make them better able to survive and have babies. For example, if some mice live in an area with a lot of predators, the ones who are faster runners will have a better chance of getting away and surviving. Over time, the fast running trait will become more common in the mouse population.

Now, imagine this happening over and over again, for millions of years, with all kinds of creatures, including humans. That's the basic idea behind human evolutionary developmental biology!

Scientists study how humans have changed by looking at old bones, fossils, and even DNA. They try to understand how we became who we are today, with our big brains, ability to walk on two feet, and all the other things that make us unique.

It's pretty cool when you think about it! We're all part of a big, long story of how humans have evolved and changed over time. It all started with some tiny creatures and ended up with us!