Human Evolution Has Slowed Down in the Last Million Years, Study Finds. The rate of genetic mutations in humans is significantly slower than our closest relatives—the other great apes—according to a study published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

Is human evolution slowing?

Far from slowing down, human evolution has sped up in the past 40,000 years and has become 100 times faster in the past 5000 years alone, according to the analysis.

Are humans evolving or devolving?

From a biological perspective, there is no such thing as devolution. All changes in the gene frequencies of populations--and quite often in the traits those genes influence--are by definition evolutionary changes.