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Letters to Nature

Nature 389, 489-492 (2 October 1997) | doi:10.1038/39037; Received 10 June 1997; Accepted 9 September 1997

The first skull of Australopithecus boisei

Gen Suwa1, Berhane Asfaw2, Yonas Beyene3, Tim D. White4, Shigehiro Katoh5, Shinji Nagaoka6, Hideo Nakaya#7, Kazuhiro Uzawa1, Paul Renne8 & Giday WoldeGabriel9

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113, Japan
  2. Rift Valley Research Service, PO Box 5717, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  3. Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, CRCCH, Ministry of Information and Culture, PO Box 1907, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  4. Laboratory for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
  5. Division of Earth Sciences, Hyogo Museum of Human and Nature Activities, Yayoigaoka, Sanda-shi, Hyogo 669-13, Japan
  6. Department of Geography, Nagasaki University, Bunkyo-machi, Nagasaki-shi, Nagasaki 852, Japan
  7. Department of Earth Sciences, Kagawa University, Saiwai-cho, Takamatsu-shi, Kagawa 760, Japan
  8. Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, California 94709, USA
  9. EES-1/D462, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA

Correspondence to: Gen Suwa1 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to G.S. (suwa@biol.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp).

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Australopithecus boisei was first described from a cranium recovered in 1959 from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania1,2. This and subsequent finds, mostly from Kenya's Turkana basin3, 4, 5, resulted in its characterization as a specialized Australopithecus species with a hyper-robust masticatory apparatus2,4,6. A distinct A. boisei facial morphology has been emphasized to differentiate robust Australopithecus lineages from East and South Africa6. A preference for closed and/or wet habitats has been hypothesized7. Here we report some new A. boisei specimens, including the taxon's first cranium and associated mandible, from Konso, Ethiopia. These fossils extend the known geographical range of A. boisei. They provide clear evidence for the coexistence of A. boisei and Homo erectus within a predominantly dry grassland environment. The A. boisei specimens from Konso demonstrate considerable morphological variation within the species. The unexpected combination of cranial and facial features of this skull cautions against the excessive taxonomic splitting of early hominids based on morphological detail documented in small and/or geographically restricted samples.