Abstract
Nine hominid dental, cranial and postcranial specimens from Kanapoi, Kenya, and 12 specimens from Allia Bay, Kenya, are described here as a new species of Australopithecus dating from between about 3.9 million and 4.2 million years ago. The mosaic of primitive and derived features shows this species to be a possible ancestor to Australopithecus afarensis and suggests that Ardipithecus ramidus is a sister species to this and all later hominids. A tibia establishes that hominids were bipedal at least half a million years before the previous earliest evidence showed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
White, T. D., Suwa, G. & Asfaw, B. Nature 371, 306–312 (1994).
White, T. D., Suwa, G. & Asfaw, B. Nature 375, 88 (1995).
WoldeGabriel, G. et al. Nature 371, 330–333 (1994).
Kimbel, W. H., Johanson, D. C. & Rak, Y. Nature 368, 449–451 (1994).
Ward, S., Johanson, D. C. & Coppens, Y. Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 57, 605–630 (1982).
Kohl-Larson, L. Auf den Spuren des Vormenschen; Forschungen Fahrten und Erlebnisse in Deutsch-Ostafrika. (Strecker & Schroder, Stuttgart, 1942).
Puech, P.-F., Cianfarani, F. & Roth, H. J. hum. Evol. 15, 325–332 (1986).
McHenry, H. M. Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 87, 407–431 (1992).
Aiello, L. & Dean, C. An introduction to Human Evolutionary Anatomy (Academic, London, 1990).
Latimer, B., Ohman, J. C. & Lovejoy, C. O. Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 74, 155–175 (1987).
Patterson, B. & Howells, W. W. Science 156, 64–66 (1967).
Day, M. H. in Early Hominids of Africa (ed. Jolly, C. J.) 311–345 (Duckworth, London, 1978).
Senut, B. Coll. anthrop. 4, 87–94 (1980).
Senut, B. & Tardieu, C. in Ancestors: The Hard Evidence (ed. Delson, E.) 193–201 (Liss, New York, 1985).
Namwamba, F. thesis, Univ. Utah (1983).
Feibel, C. S., Brown, F. H. & McDougall, I. Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 78, 595–622 (1989).
Coffing, K., Feibel, C., Leakey, M. & Walker, A. Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 93, 55–65 (1994).
McDougall, I. Bull. geol. Soc. Am. 96, 159–175 (1985).
White, T. D. et al. Nature 366, 261–265 (1993).
Harris, J. M. in Laetoli: A Pliocene Site in Northern Tanzania (eds Leakey, M. D. & Harris, J. M.) 524–531 (Clarendon, Oxford, 1987).
Johanson, D. C., Taieb, M. & Coppens, Y. Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 57, 373–402 (1982).
McDougall, I. & Harrison, T. M. Geochronology and Thermochronology by the 40Ar/39Ar Method (Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 1988).
Cebula, G. T. et al. Terra Cognita 6, 139–140 (1986).
Steven, T. A., Mehnert, H. H. & Obradovich, J. D. U.S. Geol. Surv. prof. Pap. 575-D, 47–55 (1967).
Brown, F. H. & Feibel, C. S. in Koobifora Research Project Vol. 3 (ed. Harris, J. M.) 1–30 (Clarendon, Oxford, 1991).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Leakey, M., Feibel, C., McDougall, I. et al. New four-million-year-old hominid species from Kanapoi and Allia Bay, Kenya. Nature 376, 565–571 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/376565a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/376565a0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
The effects of mid-to-late Pliocene climatic fluctuations on the habitat and distribution of early hominins
Human Ecology (2023)
-
Ineluctably us: early hominid discoveries, mass media, and the reification of human ancestors
History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences (2020)
-
Age and context of mid-Pliocene hominin cranium from Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia
Nature (2019)
-
A 3.8-million-year-old hominin cranium from Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia
Nature (2019)