Paranthropus Boisei went for a walk over a million years ago left more than just a footprint…
Scientists recently made a huge discovery about our past. A new analysis of a 1.4-million-year-old fossilized footprints in Kenya has completely rewritten what we know about our ancient human cousin.
Paranthropus boisei was previously assumed to be a quite small hominid as only skulls and jaw bones had been collected, but these tracks revealed they stand up to 5’11” and weighed approximately 165 lbs.
Most Paranthropus boisei fossils are skulls. By Matt Celeskey from Albuquerque – Australopithecus boisei, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32845963
Beyond their size, the tracks offered scientists a rare window into their ancient behavior. A group of eight adult males were found traveling together, suggesting a complex social structure where competing males cooperated for the sake of group safety. Since most fossils from this species were just skulls, these footprints provided an incredible snapshot of how they actually lived and moved…
You can read the full study published in the journal PNAS here.
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2530996123
And more from the article at The Debrief here.
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