Ancient humans are having a moment. Here are the fascinating new things we've learned this week about our ancestors

By Ashley Strickland, CNN

Updated 1320 GMT (2120 HKT) April 3, 2020

This artist's illustration shows a young Purussaurus attacking a ground sloth in Amazonia 13 million years ago.
Photos: Ancient finds
This artist's illustration shows a young Purussaurus attacking a ground sloth in Amazonia 13 million years ago.
Hide Caption
1 of 158
This bundle of bones is the torso of another marine reptile inside the stomach of a fossilized ichthyosaur from 240 million years ago.
Photos: Ancient finds
This bundle of bones is the torso of another marine reptile inside the stomach of a fossilized ichthyosaur from 240 million years ago.
Hide Caption
2 of 158
Researchers uncovered the fossilized fragments of 200,000-year-old grass bedding in South Africa's Border Cave.
Photos: Ancient finds
Researchers uncovered the fossilized fragments of 200,000-year-old grass bedding in South Africa's Border Cave.
Hide Caption
3 of 158
Meet Sasha, the preserved and reconstructed remains of a baby woolly rhinoceros named that was discovered in Siberia.
Photos: Ancient finds
Meet Sasha, the preserved and reconstructed remains of a baby woolly rhinoceros named that was discovered in Siberia.
Hide Caption
4 of 158
Stone tools made from limestone have helped researchers to suggest that humans arrived in North America as early as 30,000 years ago.
Photos: Ancient finds
Stone tools made from limestone have helped researchers to suggest that humans arrived in North America as early as 30,000 years ago.
Hide Caption
5 of 158
This image shows both sides of the 1.4 million-year-old bone handaxe made from the femur of a hippopotamus. It was most likely crafted by ancient human ancestors like Homo erectus.
Photos: Ancient finds
This image shows both sides of the 1.4 million-year-old bone handaxe made from the femur of a hippopotamus. It was most likely crafted by ancient human ancestors like Homo erectus.
Hide Caption
6 of 158
This illustration shows Kongonaphon kely, a newly described reptile that was an early ancestor of dinosaurs and pterosaurs. The fossil was found in Madagascar. It lived about 237 million years ago.
Photos: Ancient finds
This illustration shows Kongonaphon kely, a newly described reptile that was an early ancestor of dinosaurs and pterosaurs. The fossil was found in Madagascar. It lived about 237 million years ago.
Hide Caption
7 of 158
The Okavango Delta in Botswana showcases a patchy landscape where the ability to plan results in a huge survival payoff.
Photos: Ancient finds
The Okavango Delta in Botswana showcases a patchy landscape where the ability to plan results in a huge survival payoff.
Hide Caption
8 of 158
This is a clutch of fossilized Protoceratops eggs and embryos, discovered in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. They provide evidence that dinosaurs laid soft-shell eggs.
Photos: Ancient finds
This is a clutch of fossilized Protoceratops eggs and embryos, discovered in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. They provide evidence that dinosaurs laid soft-shell eggs.
Hide Caption
9 of 158
These tools, made from the bones and teeth of monkeys and smaller mammals, were recovered from Fa-Hien Lena cave in Sri Lanka. The sharp tips served as arrow points.
Photos: Ancient finds
These tools, made from the bones and teeth of monkeys and smaller mammals, were recovered from Fa-Hien Lena cave in Sri Lanka. The sharp tips served as arrow points.
Hide Caption
10 of 158