Abstract
Specimens of Australopithecus boisei have been found in 2.5-Myr-old sediments west of Lake Turkana, Kenya. The primitive morphology of these early A. boisei suggests that robust and hyper-robust Australopithecus developed many of their common features in parallel and further that A. africanus is unlikely to have been ancestral to A. boisei.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Howell, F. C. in Evolution of African Mammals (eds Maglio, V. J. & Cooke, H. B. S.) 154–248 (Harvard, Cambridge, 1978).
Coppens, Y. in Morphologie Evolutive—Morphogenese du Crane at Origine de I' Homme (ed. Sakka, M.) 155–168 (CRNS, Paris, 1981); Bull Mem. Soc. Anthrop. Paris 3, 273–284 (1983).
Tobias, P. V. A. Rev. Anthrop. 2, 311–334 (1973).
Rak, Y. The Australopithecine Face, 1–169 (Academic, New York, 1983); Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 66, 281–288 (1985).
Boaz, N. T. in New Interpretations of Ape and Human Ancestry (eds Ciochon, R. L. & Corruccini, R. S.) 705–720 (Plenum, New York, 1983).
Wolpoff, M. H. Palaeoanthropology 131–157 (Knopf, New York, 1980).
Leakey, L. S. B. Nature 184, 491–493 (1959).
Tobias, P. V. Olduvai Gorge Vol. 2 (Cambridge University Press, 1967).
Robinson, J. T. in Evolution und Hominisation (ed. Kurth, G.) 120 (Fischer, Stuttgart, 1962); in Evolutionary Biology (eds Dobzhansky, T., Hecht, M. K. & Steere, W.) (Appleton-Century Crofts, New York, 1967).
Johanson, D. C. & White, T. D. Science 203, 321–330 (1979).
Tobias, P. V. Palaeont. afr. 23, 1–17 (1980).
Olson, T. R. in Aspects of Human Evolution (ed. Stringer, C. B.) 99–128 (Taylor & Francis, London, 1981).
Harris, J. M. & Brown, F. H. National Geographic Res. 1, 289–297 (1985).
Brown, F. H., McDougall, I., Davies, T. & Maier, R. in Ancestors: the Hard Evidence (ed. Delson, E.) 82–90 (Liss, New York, 1985).
Hillhouse, J. J., Cerling, T. E. & Brown, F. H. J. geophys. Res. (in the press).
Leakey, R. E. F., Mungai, J. M. & Walker, A. C. Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 35, 175–186 (1971).
Kimbel, W. H., Johanson, D. C. & Coppens, Y. Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 57, 453–499 (1982).
Dart, R. A. Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 6, 259–284 (1948).
Dean, M. C. & Wood, B. A. Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 59, 157–174 (1982).
White, T. D., Johanson, D. C. & Kimbel, W. H. S. Afr. J. Sci. 77, 445–470 (1981).
Leakey, M. G. & Leakey, R. E. Koobi Fora Research Project, 100, 169 (Clarendon, Oxford, 1978).
Skelton, R. R., McHenry, H. & Drawhorn, G. M. Curr. Anthrop. 27, 21–43 (1986).
Leakey, L. S. B. & Leakey, M. D. Nature 202, 5–7 (1964).
Arambourg, C. & Coppens, Y. C. r. Hebd. Séanc. Acad. Sci., Paris 265, 589–590 (1967).
Robinson, J. T. Early Hominid Posture and Locomotion (University of Chicago Press, 1972).
Olson, T. R. in Ancestors: the Hard Evidence (ed. Delson, E.) 102–119 (Liss, New York, 1985).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Walker, A., Leakey, R., Harris, J. et al. 2.5-Myr Australopithecus boisei from west of Lake Turkana, Kenya. Nature 322, 517–522 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/322517a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/322517a0
This article is cited by
-
Elusive cranium of early hominin found
Nature (2019)
-
Shape analysis of the basioccipital bone in Pax7-deficient mice
Scientific Reports (2017)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
