Australopithecus anamensis (Kanapoi)
- Date
- 1995 (fósiles de c. 4.2 Ma) · confidence high
- Place
- Kanapoi, Turkana, Kenya
- Credited to
- Meave Leakey, Alan Walker and team
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
A species from 4.2-3.8 Ma whose tibia proves bipedal walking and whose teeth and jaw are still archaic. It is regarded as the likely direct ancestor of Australopithecus afarensis.
The first fragment (a humerus) was found by B. Patterson in 1965; the species was described in 1995. In 2019 the MRD cranium from Woranso-Mille (Ethiopia) provided the first complete face.
What it led to
- an anagenetic anamensis-afarensis lineage anchoring the transition before Lucy
- bipedalism confirmed over 4 Ma ago
- calibration of the hominin tree between Ardipithecus and Australopithecus