Science is Fun Fridays!

 


In some follow up on yesterday's topic, I realized I didn't have any other mention of Dr. Louis Leakey.

A paleoanthropologist and archaeologist, he found significant hominid fossils, including those of Homo habilis, demonstrating that humans evolved in Africa.  Homo rudolfensis' skull is on the left, with Zinjanthropus boisei on the right, a species of Australopithecus.


From these findings and other curiosities, he helped pioneer the field of primatology.

They discovered crude tools at the Olduvai Gorge site, identifying the oldest known stone tool-making tradition in the world.  Leakey felt that studying primates might help them better understand the behaviors of early hominids.

Jane Goodall, as we know, studied chimpanzees.  Dian Fossey studied gorillas, and Birute Galdikas studied orangutans.


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