Paranthropus boisei

Footprints in northern Kenya, dated to 1.43 million years ago, reveal insights into Paranthropus boisei's size, gait, and social behavior, including group travel by adult males. The study, led by Kevin Hatala, challenges prior assumptions about the species' body size, suggesting it rivaled Homo erectus.

Footprints discovered in northern Kenya's Lake Turkana region, dating to 1.43 million years ago, reveal new details about the size and behavior of Paranthropus boisei, a prehistoric human cousin adapted to eating tough vegetation. The 21 footprints, made by eight individuals, provide insights into this species, which is primarily known through skull and tooth fossils.

Fossil footprints in Kenya's Lake Turkana suggest Paranthropus boisei, an extinct human relative, was larger than previously believed and may have traveled in groups of adult males 1.43 million years ago. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed 21 footprints indicating these hominins could have reached 6 feet tall and 165 pounds, challenging earlier size estimates.

Over 1.4 million years ago, a group of eight ancient hominins walked across a shallow mudflat near an ancient lake in Africa. Their footprints do not match those of Paranthropus boisei or Homo erectus, suggesting a previously unknown hominin species.