1.5 Million-Year-Old Footprints Show Homo erectus and Paranthropus boisei Coexisted in Kenya

Nov 28, 2024, 08:08 PM

In a significant archaeological discovery, scientists have unearthed fossilized footprints near Lake Turkana in Kenya, dating back 1.5 million years. These footprints provide evidence that at least two distinct hominid species, Homo erectus and Paranthropus boisei, coexisted and possibly interacted in the same region. The footprints, discovered in 2021, include a long trackway of 12 footprints attributed to an adult Paranthropus boisei, each about 10.25 inches long. The find, published in the journal Science, offers a rare glimpse into the behavior and evolution of early human relatives, suggesting that these species lived in close proximity and potentially met or crossed paths within hours or days of each other.