Fossil footprints reveal body size and group dynamics of 1.4-million-year-old human relative

Research article (closed access)

To the point

• A snapshot of ancient behavior: Fossil footprints from northern Kenya preserve evidence of eight Paranthropus boiseiindividuals moving together along a lakeshore around 1.4 million years ago.
• Unexpectedly large body size: The footprints indicate human-like body sizes — up to 1.8 meters tall and around 75 kilograms — larger than previous estimates based on rare fossil bones.
• Insights into group dynamics: The tracks suggest that mostly adult male individuals traveled together, hinting at a complex social structure in this extinct human relative.
• Lake margins as key habitats: Hundreds of hominin footprints from the East Turkana region show that ancient human relatives repeatedly used lakeshore environments over more than 100,000 years.