- Kenyanthropus platyops
Taxobox
name = "Kenyanthropus platyops"
fossil_range =Pliocene
image_width= 230px
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Mammal ia
ordo =Primate s
familia =Hominidae
subfamilia =Homininae
genus = "Kenyanthropus"
species = "K. platyops"
binomial = †"Kenyanthropus platyops"
binomial_authority = Leakey et al., 2001"Kenyanthropus platyops" is a 3.5 to 3.2 million year old (
Pliocene )extinct hominin species that was discovered inLake Turkana ,Kenya in1999 by Justus Erus, who was part ofMeave Leakey 's team. [ [http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/wt40000.html Kenyanthropus platyops ] ] Thefossil found features a broad flat face with a toe bone that suggests it probably walked upright. Teeth are intermediate between typicalhuman and typicalape forms. "Kenyanthropus platyops", which means "Flat faced man of Kenya", is the only described species in the genus. However, if somepaleoanthropologist s are correct, "Kenyanthropus" may not even represent a valid taxon, as the specimen (KNM-WT 40000) [KNM-WT 40000 is short for: Kenya National Museum (where it is housed); West Turkana (where it was found); and 40000 (the museum acquisition number) ] is so distorted by matrix-filled cracks that meaningful morphologic characteristics are next to impossible to assess with confidence. It may simply be a specimen of "Australopithecus afarensis ", which is known from the same time period and geographic area. Other researches speculate that the flatter face position of the rough cranium is similar to KNM ER 1470 "Homo rudolfensis " and suspect it to be closer to the genus "Homo", perhaps being a direct ancestor. However the debate has not been concluded and the species remains an enigma.The bones discovered at the site included more than 30
skull andtooth fragments in a stratum dated to between 3.5 and 3.2 million years ago. The fossil was named the Flat Faced Man of Kenya, or "Kenyanthropus platyops", by Dr. Meave Leakey, of the National Museums of Kenya.Dr. Leakey believes that it belongs to an entirely new
genus of ancestors, and is the oldest "reasonably complete"cranium found so far. Humans were once thought to have evolved from only one member of "Australopithecus afarensis", thespecies made famous by the fossil Lucy. But now it seems Lucy may have been sharing the woods and grass plains of prehistoricAfrica with a rival.Until more recent discoveries were made, it seemed as if the
evolution of man might be “special” since there appeared to be only one single line ofhominid s leading from the most primitive to Modern Man of today. And sinceevolution normally proceeds in branches, multiplying as each branch divides,hominid evolution seemed for a while to be the one exception. Now, with the discovery of "Kenyanthropus", the picture looks more “normal”.At present anthropologists aren’t sure how many branches there might have been 3 million years ago. Branches may have gone extinct that we haven’t yet found representatives for; but such fossils could be discovered at any time.
When learning of the discovery, Daniel Lieberman, an anthropologist at George Washington University expressed his opinion that between 3.5 and 2 million years ago there were several human-like species, each of which were well adapted to life in their particular environments. Also that, like that of many other mammalian groups, humans evolved through a series of complex radiations, known as "adaptive radiation". [BBC News (21 March 2001) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1234006.stm]
The Kenyanthropus fossil has a small earhole, like those of
chimpanzee s. It also shares many features of other primitive hominids, such as a smallbrain , but it also has striking differences, including high cheek bones, and a flat plane beneath itsnose bone, which gives it a flatface .See also
*
List of fossil sites "(with link directory)"
*List of human evolution fossils "(with images)"References
Further reading
*cite journal |last=Leakey |first=Meave G. |authorlink= |coauthors="et al." |year=2001 |month= |title=New hominin genus from eastern Africa shows diverse middle Pliocene lineages |journal=Nature |volume=410 |issue= |pages=433–440 |doi=10.1038/35068500 |url= |accessdate= |quote=
External links
* [http://www.kenyanthropus.com/ Kenyanthropus.com]
* [http://www.nature.com/nature/fow/010322.html The flat faced man of Kenya (Nature)]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2001/apetookover.shtml BBC Science article about importance of Kenyanthropus Platyops]
* [http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/humanorigins/history/images/md/kenyathropus-platyops.jpgA picture of Kenyathropus-Platyops at the American Museum of Natural History]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.