{"id":4767,"date":"2015-06-02T20:11:19","date_gmt":"2015-06-03T00:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kenyapage.net\/commentary\/?p=4767"},"modified":"2015-06-02T20:24:34","modified_gmt":"2015-06-03T00:24:34","slug":"human-evolution-fossils-found-in-kenya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kenyapage.net\/commentary\/kenya-history\/human-evolution-fossils-found-in-kenya\/","title":{"rendered":"Human Evolution fossils found in Kenya"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kenya is arguably the country in with the
\nhighest number of human evolution fossils. In particular, the region
\nnear Lake Turkana has been very fertile ground for the discovery of
\nhuman evolution fossils and artifacts. Below is a listing, description
\nand background information about the Human evolution fossils unearthed
\nin Kenya.<\/span><\/p>\n

The world’s oldest stone tools<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In 2011 a research team led by Dr Sonia
\nHarmand of Stony Brook University, discovered a set of stone tools at a
\nsite called Lomekwi on the Northern shores of Lake Turkana. The tools
\nwere found by Sammy Lokorodi. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"world's<\/p>\n

Dr Mzalendo Kibunja of the Kenya Museums, , Stony
\nBrook University research associate professor Dr Sonia Harmand and Sammy
\nLokorodi<\/p>\n

The tools were found to be 3.3 million years
\nold, which is 700,000 years older than the tools created by Homo Habilis
\nwhich were previously assumed to be the oldest. Given the timeframe, the
\ntools are assumed to have been created by Australopithecus Anamensis or
\nKenyathropus Platyops whose remains were found in the area.<\/span><\/p>\n

Paranthropus Aethiopicus<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This fosssil find popularly known as the black skull, was discovered
\nin 1985 by Alan Walker and Philip Leakey. It is referred to as the black
\nskull because when it was unearthed, it had been darkened by manganese
\nminerals in the soil.<\/p>\n

The find is dated to 2.5 million years ago and is a robust
\naustralopithecine with a strongly protruding face, large teeth, robust
\njaws and a well developed saggital crest on th skull to support chewing
\nmuscles.<\/p>\n

Orrorin Tugenensis<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

The fossils of this species were unearthed in 2001 and were
\ndated to between 5.8 and 6.2 million years ago. The sediments in which
\nthe fossils were found were also consistently found to be about 6
\nmillion years old<\/p>\n

The fossils consisted of 13 fossils, including a partial femur, bits of
\na lower jaw, and several teeth. The fossils were found by a team led by
\nFrench geologist Martin Pickford and French palaeontologist Briggite
\nSenut.<\/p>\n

The fossils were found in the Tugen hills near the Rift Valley. The
\nreasearchers gave the name Orrorin Tugenensis which in the local Tugen
\nlanguage means “Original Man”.<\/p>\n

It is the only species that belongs to the genus Orrorin. Its femur and
\nhumerus are 50% larger than those of Lucy (Australopithecus Afarensis)
\nwhich means it would have been 50% larger than Lucy making it about the
\nsize of a chimpanzee.<\/p>\n

In 2008 a study of the grooves in the femurs of Orrorin. tugenensis,
\npresumably points where muscles and ligaments attached, suggest that the
\nspecies was bipedal. This bipedalism makes it the earliest candidate to
\nbe a direct ancestor of modern humans.<\/p>\n

In addition, its molars\u00a0 are more similar to modern human teeth in
\nthat they are smaller than those of later hominind species like Lucy and
\nalso have a thick enamel like those of Homo Sapiens.<\/p>\n

Australopithecus Anamensis<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Fossils of this species were first found in 1965 at Kanapoi which is
\nclose to Lake Turkana in Northern Kenya. They were found by Harvard
\nBryan Patterson They remained unclassified until 1994 when a team led by
\npaleoanthropologist Maeve Leakey uncovered similar fossils in the nearby
\nAllia Bay. They were dated to between 3.9 and 4.2 million years ago.<\/p>\n

It is now believed to be a direct ancestor of Australopithecus Afarensis
\nthat lived a few hundred thousand years before.<\/p>\n

Australopithecus anamensis has a\u00a0combination of traits found in
\nboth apes and humans. The upper end of the tibia (shin bone) shows an
\nexpanded area of bone and a human-like orientation of the ankle joint,
\nindicative of regular
\n
\nbipedal<\/abbr><\/span>
\nwalking. Long forearms and features of the wrist bones suggest that the
\nspecies regularly climbed trees as well.<\/p>\n

Turkana Boy (Nariokotome Boy)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Turkana Boy is the name given to a skeleton belonging to a boy who lived
\n1.6 million years ago. The species was found by Kamoya Kimeu who is one
\nof the most important fossil collectors in the world.<\/p>\n

It was an almost complete skeleton with 108 bones, making it the most
\ncomplete early human species fossil. The age of Turkana boy at death has
\nbeen variously\u00a0 estimated to be from 6 years old to 15 years old.
\nThe current consensus is that Turkana boy was approximatelty 8 years old
\nat death.<\/p>\n

His assigned species is Homo Erectus. He was 5 feet tall and it is
\nestimated that he would have grown to 6 feet tall. His assigned species
\nis Homo Ergaster.<\/p>\n

Homo Rudolfensis<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This fossil skull was found at Koobi Fora in Northern Kenya in 1972
\nby Bernard Ngeneo who was also working for Richard and Maeve Leakey. It
\nwas dated to 1.9 million which is around the time when Homo Habilis
\nexisted. However it has larger brain size than Homo Habilis and larger
\nteeth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kenyanthropus Platyops<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The remains of this species was found in 1999 by Justus Erus who was
\nworking for Maeve Leakey. It was dated to 3.5 million years ago. It had
\na number of primitive features such as a small brain. But it also had a
\nnumber of features associated with the genus homo such as a flat face
\nand smaller teeth.<\/p>\n

Since no other fossils of this species have been found, its
\nclassification is highly tentative.<\/p>\n

Paranthropus Boisei<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The first fossils of these species were discovered at Olduvai Gorge in
\nTanzania in 1959 by Mary Leakey.
\nShe and her husband (Louis Leakey) named the species Zinjanthropus
\nBoisei. Additional fossils were found at Koobi Foora in Kenya’s Lake
\nTurkana region.<\/p>\n

It is characterized by large teeth, in some cases twice the size of
\nthose of modern humans, its enamel was thicker than those of any known
\nearly human. Its most distinctive feature is the flaring cheekbones, a
\nsaggital crest on top of the skull thatw as used to anchor the chewing
\nmuscles. Its brain size between 500cc and 550cc was larger than
\nParanthropus Aethiopicus. Sexual dimorphism is far less pronounced in
\nthis species.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\tBack to Kenya History Page<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n
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