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  5. Two species of ancient human relatives walked side by side in Kenya 1.5 million years ago

Two species of ancient human relatives walked side by side in Kenya 1.5 million years ago

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According to the articles, the footprints in question were found in the Turkana Basin and dated to about 1.5 million years ago. Researchers have concluded that these footprints belong to two different species of hominins, our prehistoric relatives. One set of tracks was identified as belonging to an ancient primate, while the other set was left by three Homo Erectus individuals.

  1. Rutgers University
    1. They probably would have been aware of one another's existence, living in such close proximity to one another. That raises some interesting questions about competition and coexistence.
  2. US
    Kevin Hatala
    Chatham University
    1. This raises lots of fascinating questions about how they would have interacted, and we don't have all of those answers yet.
    2. I would expect the two species would have been aware of each other's existence on that landscape, and they probably would have recognised each other as being 'different'.
    3. There are aspects of their big toe anatomy, in particular, that seem consistent with the patterns that we see in the footprints.
    4. They appear to be walking in slightly different fashions. They're both bipeds. They're both moving adeptly. But there are still subtle differences in how they walk.
    5. This is the first direct snapshot of the two species together on the same immediate landscape.
    6. This is the first time that we know they were living alongside each other.
  3. US
    William Harcourt-Smith
    Lehman College
    1. It turns out, there are different gait mechanics – different ways of being bipedal.
    2. It's plus or minus a few thousand years.
    3. It hints at aspects of palaeobiology that are difficult to reconstruct, but crucial to improve our understanding.
    4. The study … offers a tantalising glimpse into the behavioural ecology of contemporary hominin species.
  4. ZA
    Andy Herries
    La Trobe University
    1. It adds another critical piece of the puzzle in understanding how different species may have interacted on the same landscape, two species in this case which had very different diets and ways of living.

sources

  1. 1.CTV News
  2. 2.The Guardian
  3. 3.ABC News (Australia)
  4. 4.The Washington Post
  5. 5.Associated Press

perspectives

  1. 1.Paleontology
  2. 2.Anthropology

countries

  1. 1.KenyaKE

organizations

  1. 1.Chatham University
  2. 2.American Museum of Natural History
  3. 3.La Trobe University
  4. 4.Lehman College
  5. 5.Natural History Museum
  6. 6.New York University
  7. 7.Rutgers University
  8. 8.Stony Brook University
  9. 9.University of Johannesburg

persons

  1. 1.Kevin HatalaUS
  2. 2.Neil Thomas Roach
  3. 3.William Harcourt-SmithUS
  4. 4.Andy HerriesZA
  5. 5.Chris Stringer
  6. 6.Craig Feibel
  7. 7.Dean Falk
  8. 8.María Martinón-Torres
  9. 9.Michelle Langley

technicals

  1. 1.Turkana Basin
  2. 2.Last Glacial Maximum
  3. 3.Paranthropus Boisei