Uraha mandible (HCRP-UR 501)
Mandíbula de Uraha (HCRP-UR 501)
- Date
- 1991-1993 (mandíbula de c. 2.4 Ma) · confidence medium
- Place
- Uraha, Karonga, Malawi
- Credited to
- Friedemann Schrenk and a German-Malawian team
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
A jaw from Malawi's Rift Valley, c. 2.4 Ma old, attributed to Homo rudolfensis or Homo habilis. It is one of the oldest fossils of the genus Homo and marks its presence at the southern end of the East African corridor.
Described by Schrenk and colleagues (Nature, 1993). The age rests on associated fauna (2.5-2.3 Ma) and the species assignment is debated (H. rudolfensis, H. habilis or Homo sp.).
What it led to
- widening the early range of Homo southwards
- biostratigraphic dating of the Chiwondo Beds
- a boost to Malawi's Hominid Corridor Research Project