Fossil footprints reveal body size and group dynamics of 1.4-million-year-old human relative
Researchers have analyzed 1.4-million-year-old fossilized footprints in Kenya, providing new insights into the group dynamics and locomotion of the hominin Paranthropus boisei. The study highlights the importance of the Lake Turkana region in understanding early human evolution.
Why it matters
These findings offer a rare, detailed snapshot of early human relative behavior, contributing significantly to the field of paleoanthropology.
edited by Sadie Harley , reviewed by Robert Egan
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Add as preferred source Overview of the excavated track surface with a mix of deeper hippopotamus and antelope footprints and shallower hominin tracks visible. Credit: Kay Behrensmeyer, Smithsonian. Ancient footprints preserved along the shores of Kenya's Lake Turkana are reshaping scientists' understanding of one of humanity's extinct relatives. A paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describes a set of fossil trackways made by a group of ancient human relatives moving along a lakeshore more than 1.4 million years ago.
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