Kenyan footprints shed light on prehistoric human cousin Paranthropus
Researchers have discovered 21 footprints in Kenya belonging to the prehistoric hominin Paranthropus boisei, dating back 1.43 million years. The findings suggest that these individuals engaged in group travel and provide new insights into their social behavior and anatomy.
Why it matters
This discovery offers a rare glimpse into the social dynamics and physical characteristics of a human evolutionary cousin, helping scientists better understand the lineage of hominins.
July 28 (Reuters) – Footprints left on a muddy lakeshore in northern Kenya around 1.43 million years ago are providing new insight into the size and behavior of a species in the human evolutionary lineage that was the last of its kind, known for extensive anatomical adaptations for eating tough vegetation.
The species, Paranthropus boisei, is known mostly from skull and tooth fossils. Now researchers working along the eastern side of Kenya’s Lake Turkana have identified 21 footprints made by eight individuals of this species who appear to have been walking together on a mudflat. They attributed the tracks to this species based on foot shape and gait, and concluded they probably were left by adult males, due to their size.
The footprints provide a glimpse into social dynamics in Paranthropus boisei, including the fact that males sometimes traveled across the landscape in groups, without females or children.
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