Question

write a half-page paper, How did the work of Mary Leakey contribute to our knowledge of early hominids and an understanding of human evolution?

Answer 1

Mary Leakey was a paleoanthropologist who, along with husband Louis, made notable scientific discoveries which are today hallmarks to our understanding of human evolution. The couple moved to Africa when Louis embarked on an excavation project at the Olduvai Gorge, a steep ravine now in present day Tanzania, East Africa.

In 1948, she found a partial skull fossil of Proconsul africanus, an early ancestor of apes and humans. Considered to be 18 millionsold, her archaeological finding was of immense consequence to the scientific studies on the evolutionary similarity between humans and apes and this skull was evidence of the first species of the primate genus to be discovered from the Miocene era. Then later, Mary discovered the partial skull of an early human ancestor Australopithecus boisei, and showed that this species was equipped with a small brain but massive teeth and jaws, and very muscles anchored to the top of the skull. The scientist duo of husband and wife later unearthed fossils of Homo habilis, a species believed to be about 1.4 and 2.3 million years old dating back to the Gelasian Pleistocene period.

Thus, her discoveries provide the scientific and anthropological communities today rare Andy significant glimpses into the evolutionary history of human beings from the primate species and her archeological expeditions have yielded evidence of the gradual technological developments whether it is through the fossil remains of the prehistoric humans who developed the skill and the dexterity  in making stone tools, or the series of big foot prints that she excavated which provided evidence of the prowess of our early ancestor in traversing long distance and developing civilisations. Leaky therefore stands as one of the earliest known experts in the field of paleoanthropology.