What was so important about the discovery of the Lake Turkana Nariokotome skeleton?

They found fossils of what turned out to be an Australopithecus anamensis. The discovery indicates that the date of the occurrence of bipedalism needed to be moved back by half a million years, to about 4.2 million years ago.

What is the significance of the Nariokotome boy fossils?

The Nariokotome boy’s skeleton has been called the fossil find of the century. Because it was so complete, it revealed a great deal not only about the anatomy of his species, Homo erectus (sometimes called Homo ergaster), but also clues about their life history and even social structure.

How does the body of Turkana Boy differ from the body of a modern human?

In adulthood, Turkana Boy might have reached 185 centimetres (6.07 ft) tall and massed 68 kilograms (150 lb). The pelvis is narrower than in Homo sapiens, which is most likely for more efficient upright walking.

Why is Lake Turkana important for studying hominin evolution?

Yet ‘Turkana Boy’ is just one of many early human fossils discovered near the lake. Together they span four million years of human evolution. During the wetter times, it was an ideal place for early humans to live, and when they died it was a perfect place for their remains to fossilise.

What was the significance of Lake 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. This skeleton is 40\% complete, based on the principle that bones from one side of the body can tell what the same bone from the other side looked like even if it’s missing.

What is the evidence that suggests Turkana Boy did not have body hair?

The evidence for Turkana Boy’s hairlessness comes in part from the study of louse DNA. Hair is “rarely present in the fossil record” so researchers have turned to the study of parasites associated with hair, i.e. head and pubic lice. It turns out that the human head louse is very different from the human pubic louse.

What is significant about 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.

Where is the Turkana Boy skeleton?

“Turkana Boy,” above, is the most complete early human skeleton ever found. It was discovered on the western shore of the lake, while the Koobi Fora rock formation is on the east.

What is the significance of Lake Turkana?

The most saline of Africa’s large lakes, Turkana is an outstanding laboratory for the study of plant and animal communities. The three National Parks serve as a stopover for migrant waterfowl and are major breeding grounds for the Nile crocodile, hippopotamus and a variety of venomous snakes.

How did scientists infer whether Turkana Boy has body hair or not?

The evidence for Turkana Boy’s hairlessness comes in part from the study of louse DNA. Their research suggests that humans lost their thick coat of body hair almost three million years ago, paving the way for Turkana Boy to outrun and kill the meat he needed to feed his growing brain.

Why is one of the fossil finds called Turkana Boy?

… 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. The youth was already tall at this young…

What species is Turkana Boy?

Homo ergaster
Turkana Boy/Organism

What can we learn about Homo erectus from the Turkana Boy skeleton?

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. This skeleton is 40\% complete, based on the principle that bones from one side of the body can tell what the same bone from the other side looked like even if it’s missing. His pelvis shows he was male.

What kind of fossil is Turkana Boy?

Turkana Boy, the designation given to fossil KNM-WT (Kenya National Museum-West Turkana), is a nearly complete skeleton of a 12-year-old hominid boy who died 1.6 million years ago.Turkana Boy is classified as either Homo erectus or Homo ergaster.

How old was Turkana boy when he died?

Turkana Boy. Turkana Boy, the designation given to fossil KNM-WT (Kenya National Museum-West Turkana), is a nearly complete skeleton of a 12-year-old hominid boy who died 1.6 million years ago. The skeleton was discovered in 1984 by a team led by Richard Leakey near Lake Turkana in Kenya.

What was the social structure like in Turkana Boy?

The social structure would probably have become more complex with a larger brain volume; the Broca’s area of the brain allows speech and is noted by a slight slant on the cranium. Turkana Boy’s thoracic vertebrae are narrower than in Homo sapiens.