FREE ESSAY ON LEAKEY, RICHARD

LEAKEY, RICHARD

Richard Leakey- Homo habilis
Richard Leakey was born December 19, 1944 in Nairobi, Kenya. His parents were the
esteemed anthropologists Louis and Mary Leakey. Richard first became a tour guide in
Kenya, but changed his mind when he found an extinct human jaw. He then schooled himself
by completing a two-year secondary education program in six months. From 1967-77 he and
his co-workers dug up around 400 fossils, that accounted for 230 individuals. The most
important discovery was an almost complete skull found in 1977, which Richard believe to
be a new species called Homo habilis. 
Richard Leakey's accomplishments are discovering the crania of Australopithecus boisei in
1969 with the archaeologist Glynn Isaac on the East shores of Lake Turkana, Homo habilis
in 1972, and Homo erectus in1975. He was appointed administrative director in 1968 of the
National Museum of Kenya, and in director 1974. Since 1989 he has been director of the
Wildlife and Conservation Management Service, Kenya. His publications include Origins in
1977 and The Making of Mankind in 1981, both with Roger Lewin.
Australopithecus africanus inhabited the earth roughly 3 - 1.6 million years ago. The
characteristic difference between the Ausrtalopithicus afarenis and africanus is the
height and brain capacity. The height of the africanus is 1.4 m and the brain capacity is
approximately 400 - 600 cc. Smaller incisor teeth and a slightly flatter face are also
noted. The afarensis has a height of 1.2 m and a cranial capacity of 380 - 450 cc.
Sticks, and stones were most likely used to gather food by the Australopithecus
africanus.
Homo habilis (also known as handy man) is theorized to have lived with Australopithecus
africanus. Homo habilis was known as "handy man" because he used primative stone tools.
The flat face and large molars of the Homo habilis resemble the Australopithecus lineage.
The brain size of the Homo habilis is about 700 cc which is larger than the
Australopithecus). The apelike body structure with long arms and a small body was a
characteristic of the Homo habilis.
Recent discoveries, such as from Lake Turkana, of better-preserved fossils have revealed
new insights on early Homo in the Plio-Pleistocene. Of this new habilis material, the
most amazing is a nearly complete cranium discovered in 1972 at East Lake Turakana. This
individual, with a cranial capacity if 775 cm3, is clearly outside the known range for
Australopithecines and it overlaps the lower boundary for Homo. Also, the shape of the
skull vault and face are unlike that of Australopithec- ines.
Bibliography
Bibliography
Lewin, Roger. Human Evolution: An Illustrated Introduction: Second Edition. London:
Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1989.
Lambert, David. The Cambridge Guide to Prehistoric Man. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1987.
Jurmain, Robert/ Nelson, Harry/ Kilgore, Lynn. Essentials of Physical Anthropology:
Second Edition. San Francisco: West Publishing Company, 1995.
Howell, Clark. LIFE Nature Library Early Man. Canada:
Time Inc., 1971.
http://citd.scar.utoronto.ca/ANTD15/Shan/gloss.html