Illustration of Paranthropus boisei

1959 Paranthropus boisei

The book of science

Tom Sharp

Mary Leakey, Louis Leakey primatology Illustration of Paranthropus boisei

Paranthropus boisei

Mary Leakey found the first bones in the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. Her husband Louis named the creature, another member of the human family. Her son Richard suggested they were the first in the family to use stone tools.

Hominini

Northwest First Peoples believed bears were kinds of human beings. Why isn’t Pan troglodytes considered a genus of Homo? Classification of primates seems confused by our feelings of superiority. Why do we have trouble accepting others with different cultures or colors when our hearts go out on first sight for a baby Gorilla gorilla? John Edward Gray gave us the Homininae family and as members we should welcome all our tribe.

A.K.A.

Paranthropus boisei Paranthropus boisei Paranthropus boisei a.k.a. Australopithecus boisei according to Raymond Dart, a.k.a. Zinjanthropus boisei according to Louis Leakey, a.k.a. Nutcracker Man with teeth built for chewing, named boisei for the man who funded the research, lived for over a million years, and has been extinct for just as long.

Paranthropus boisei, with its sagittal crest, looks more like a small gorilla to me; but if the creature is human, then gorillas, bonobos, and chimpanzees should also be human, in the genus Homo, in my opinion.

See also in The book of science:

Readings in wikipedia: