Early Homo erectus skeleton from west Lake Turkana, Kenya

Nature. 1985;316(6031):788-92. doi: 10.1038/316788a0.

Abstract

The most complete early hominid skeleton ever found was discovered at Nariokotome III, west Lake Turkana, Kenya, and excavated in situ in sediments dated close to 1.6 Myr. The specimen, KNM-WT 15000, is a male Homo erectus that died at 12 +/- 1 years of age, as judged by human standards, but was already 1.68 m tall. Although human-like in many respects, this specimen documents important anatomical differences between H. erectus and modern humans for the first time.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cephalometry
  • Fossils
  • Geography
  • Haplorhini / anatomy & histology*
  • Humans
  • Kenya
  • Paleontology
  • Skeleton / anatomy & histology*
  • Skull / anatomy & histology