Turkana Boy (Homo erectus)
Niño de Turkana (Homo erectus)
- Date
- 1984 · confidence high
- Place
- Nariokotome, west of Lake Turkana, Kenya
- Credited to
- Kamoya Kimeu, with Richard Leakey and Alan Walker
- People
- 👤 Alan Walker1938–2017👤 Kamoya Kimeu1938–2022👤 Richard Leakey1944–2022
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
An almost complete skeleton of an adolescent from around 1.5 million years ago, with already modern body proportions. It is the most complete fossil of early Homo.
Catalogued as KNM-WT 15000; also attributed to Homo ergaster.
What it led to
- knowledge of the body of Homo erectus
- studies of growth and development in hominins
- debate over language in Homo erectus