What is special about the Turkana Boy?
The ‘Turkana Boy’ skeleton has allowed scientists to find out a lot of information about body size, body shape, and growth rates of Homo erectus. Although he had a disability which hindered his movement, his body shows long legs and narrow shoulders typical of humans who live in hot, dry climate today.
What was wrong with Turkana Boy?
Disease. Early studies indicated that Turkana Boy suffered from a congenital disorder, either dwarfism or scoliosis. This was because the rib bones appeared asymmetrical to the spine, at the time attributed to skeletal dysplasia.
Why is Lake Turkana important for studying hominin evolution?
The earliest known Acheulean hand-axes were discovered near Lake Turkana in 2011. Lake Turkana has also helped reveal what was happening even earlier in human evolution, before the Homo genus arose. In 1974, researchers in Ethiopia discovered a 3.2-million-year-old fossil Australopithecus afarensis, nicknamed ‘Lucy’.
How was Turkana Boy dated?
Luckily for paleoanthropologists, the Turkana Boy lived in a region of active volcanoes whose deposits can be dated. When ash or lava from a volcano has cooled, radioactive potassium 40 in the material begins to decay at a known rate to stable argon 40.
Is Turkana Boy older than Lucy?
The public press on Turkana Boy has been minuscule compared to that of Lucy, likely because this find was claimed to be 1.4 million years old by some experts and as old as 1.9 million Darwin years by others.
How did Turkana Boy died?
Gum disease. The Turkana Boy (Homo ergaster) lived in Africa about 1.5 million years ago. Although he died young, his bones show that he did not die from an attack by a predator because his nearly complete skeleton shows no damage from either predators or scavengers.
What is a significant characteristic of Nariokotome boy?
The skeleton, known as KNM-WT 15000 to paleoanthropologists, is also called “Turkana Boy.” It is extraordinary in its completeness; only a humerus and the ends of the hands and feet are missing. The maturity of its teeth and limb bones correspond to those of an 11- to 13-year-old.
What killed the Turkana Boy?
How did Turkana boy died?
How old is the oldest human fossil ever found?
The oldest reliably classified fossils belonging to the genus Homo date back to a little over 2 million years ago. They belong to H. habilis, a type of ancient hominin that scientists classify as the first of our genus, and which may have led to H. erectus, one of our direct ancestors.
What was the name of the Turkana Boy?
Turkana Boy. Turkana Boy, also called Nariokotome Boy, is the name given to fossil KNM-WT 15000, a nearly complete skeleton of a Homo erectus (Homo ergaster) youth who lived at c. 1.5 to 1.6 million years ago. This specimen is the most complete early human skeleton ever found.
Where was the Turkana Boy human skeleton found?
Turkana Boy. This specimen is the most complete early human skeleton ever found. It was discovered in 1984 by Kamoya Kimeu, a member of a team led by Richard Leakey, at Nariokotome near Lake Turkana in Kenya.
Why did the Turkana Boy have a low forehead?
The Boy was relatively tall, which increased his body surface area that would enhance heat dissipation and prevent heat stress under the hot sun. The overall KNM-WT 15000 skeleton still had features (such as a low sloping forehead, strong brow ridges, and the absence of a chin) not seen in H. sapiens.
Why are the arms longer than the legs of a Turkana Boy?
The arms and legs are slightly longer indicating effective bipedality. The nose is projecting like those of humans rather than the open flat nose seen in other apes. Body hair may also have been thinner (most likely naked) and possibly with increased sweat glands to hasten cooling.