Footprints from Kenya’s Turkana Basin show that Homo erectus and Paranthropus boisei lived simultaneously 1.5 million years ago, with distinct bipedalism patterns suggesting different evolutionary trajectories.
Newly discovered fossil footprints have revealed that at least two different hominid species walked along the muddy, submerged edge of a lake in Kenya’s Turkana Basin at the same time, approximately 1.5 million years ago.
Evidence of Co-Existing Hominids
Found at the renowned hominid fossil site of Koobi Fora, these footprints—described by Kevin Hatala and colleagues—offer physical evidence of multiple hominid lineages co-existing in the region, something previously inferred only from overlapping fossil dates.
Analysis of Bipedal Patterns
Based on information on gait and stance gleaned from the footprints, Hatala et al. think that the two species were Homo erectus and Paranthropus boisei. This is the first evidence of two different patterns of bipedalism among Pleistocene hominids appearing on the same footprint surface.
Implications for Human Evolution
After examining the new Koobi Fora footprints, the researchers analyzed other similar-age hominid footprints and concluded there is a distinct pattern of two different types of bipedalism across the East Turkana region. The overall analysis indicates that the different species were contemporaneously using these lake habitats, with varying possibilities of competition or niche partitioning that could have impacted trends in human evolution.
William Harcourt-Smith discusses the implications of the footprints from a related Perspective.
For more on this discovery, see 1.5-Million-Year-Old Footprints Rewrite Human Evolution.
References:
“Footprint evidence for locomotor diversity and shared habitats among early Pleistocene hominins” by Kevin G. Hatala, Neil T. Roach, Anna K. Behrensmeyer, Peter L. Falkingham, Stephen M. Gatesy, Erin Marie Williams-Hatala, Craig S. Feibel, Ibrae Dalacha, Martin Kirinya, Ezekiel Linga, Richard Loki, Apolo Alkoro, Longaye, Malmalo Longaye, Emmanuel Lonyericho, Iyole Loyapan, Nyiber Nakudo, Cyprian Nyete and Louise N. Leakey, 28 November 2024, Science.
DOI: 10.1126/science.ado5275
“Contemporary hominin locomotor diversity” by William E. H. Harcourt-Smith, 28 November 2024, Science.
DOI: 10.1126/science.adt8033
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