Nature 262, 460 - 466 (05 August 1976); doi:10.1038/262460a0

Fossil hominids from the Laetolil Beds

M. D. Leakey^*, R. L. Hay^*, G. H. Curtis^*, R. E. Drake^*, M. K. Jackes^* & T. D. White^†

^*Olduvai Gorge, PO Box 30239, Nairobi, Kenya
^†Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104

Remains of 13 early hominids have been found in the Laetolil Beds in northern Tanzania, 30 miles south of Olduvai Gorge. Potassium−argon dating of the fossiliferous deposits gives an upper limit averaging 3.59 Myr and a lower limit of 3.77 Myr. An extensive mammalian fauna is associated. The fossils occur in the upper 30 m of ash-fall and aeolian tuffs whose total measured thickness is 130 m.

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