Abstract
The cranium of a robust australopithecine, KNM WT 17000, was discovered from the Plio/Pleistocene deposits west of Lake Turkana in Kenya, and assigned to the speciesAustralopithecus boisei Leakey, 1959. A comparative morphological study shows that it does not conform with the diagnosis forA. boisei. It is characterized by having a much smaller brain, a low hyperprognathous facial skeleton, and a less developed masticatory apparatus. Its unique morphological pattern justifies its placement in a new taxon which is calledAustralopithecus walkeri n. sp.
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Ferguson, W.W. A new species of the genusAustralopithecus (primates: hominidae) from Plio/Pleistocene deposits west of Lake Turkana in Kenya. Primates 30, 223–232 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381307
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381307