This is a piece of the left distal humerus (upper arm) of Australopithecus anamensis, the only hominid fossil found by Bryan Patterson’s first Harvard University expedition to Kanapoi, West Turkana, in 1966. At the time of its discovery the taxonomic assignment was ambiguous. However, some 30 years later, expeditions led by Meave Leakey, to the remote pebble covered fossil deposits of Kanapoi, recovered additional hominid remains. This specimen (KNM-KP 271) and the new fossils found at that time were then assigned to the new species Australopithecus anamensis. Australopithecus anamensis at Kanapoi is dated to between 4.1 and 4.2 million years. Several specimens have also been recovered from slightly younger sites, 3.9 Million years at Alia Bay on the east side of Lake Turkana.
Australopithecus anamensis
Australopithecus anamensis Age approx. 4.10 Million Years
Digital Capture: Photogrammetry 0 Comments Order: Primates Family: Hominidae Tribe: Hominini Genus: Australopithecus Species: anamensis Element: Distal humerus Locality: Kanapoi, West Turkana Year of Discovery: 1966 Other Fossils to View |