US Edition'Nutcracker Man' Fossils Suggest Multiple Species Made Tools
- On Wednesday, Louise Leakey and colleagues reported the first hand and foot bones unambiguously associated with Paranthropus boisei from KNM-ER 101000 at Koobi Fora, Lake Turkana, Kenya.
- For more than half a century, researchers have debated whether Paranthropus boisei, known mainly from skulls and teeth, could make stone tools while living in eastern Africa from 1.3 million to 2.6 million years ago alongside Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis and Homo erectus.
- Comparisons with gorilla and human hands reveal Paranthropus boisei’s hand anatomy combined a long robust thumb, short straight fingers and dexterous pinkie, enabling precision and power, Dr. Caley Orr said.
- Researchers say the find raises the possibility that Oldowan toolkits could have been made by Paranthropus boisei rather than Homo, and Dr. Matt Tocheri said, "This fossil evidence effectively ends that debate."
- In the broader evolutionary timeline, Paranthropus boisei diverged from a common australopith ancestor more than 3 million years ago, while Oldowan tools predate it, suggesting multiple hominins could have made early tools.
38 Articles
38 Articles
For the first time, hand bones belonging to Paranthropus boisei have been found, putting an end to an old mystery.
A new study suggests that the prehuman Paranthropus boisei had the ability to handle precision, so that the previous image of human evolution could have to be revised.
Fossil Study Suggests Early Hominid May Have Made Tools - Archaeology Magazine
Digitally reconstructed left hand of a P. boisei skeleton from the top (left), and bottom (right) STONY BROOK, NEW YORK—According to a Science News report, a study of hand and wrist bones belonging to Paranthropus boisei by paleoanthropologist Carrie Mongle of Stony Brook University and her colleagues suggests that this 1.5 million-year-old hominid may have had a human-like grip, capable of making basic tools for cutting and pounding. The fossil…
The study concluded that the hands of the first human beings, the Paranthropus boisei, share characteristics with both modern humans and African macaws.
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