Kenya: Gang behind fossil discoveries

Kenya is no doubt known as the cradle of humankind and this title to it is not misplaced. The country has produced some of the best fossils and especially of hominines as humankind ancestors in the evolutionary circles are referred to.

Many will have heard of great names like Prof. Richard Leakey and his Paleontologist wife Professor Meave Leakey, Prof. Don Johanson, Prof. Tim White, Prof Allan Walker, Dr. Fredrick Manthi, Wolde Gabriel, Asfaw and others. However behind the spectacular finds is a group of dedicated field assistants whose work is to scour the bad lands looking for these fossils.

This group referred to as the hominid gang works on the ground covering hectares and hectares of lands deliberately walking with eyes on the ground and taking in all the details from the ground in search of the precious fossils.

Temperatures are forbidding with some areas reporting highs of 50 degrees Celsius yet this group remains unbowed with the aim of spotting just one tooth, piece of finger bone or even of the skull.

Prof. Meave Leakey of Stony Brook University and a co-director of Koobi Fora Research Project which is responsible of a large percentage of all the finds say: "However, less well known are the unsung fossil finders, an amazingly skilled group of people who are largely responsible for the discovery of each and every one of these fossils. Finding fossils takes great skill and patience"...

AfricaNews - Kenya: Gang behind fossil discoveries