Turkana boy
homo erectus fossil found in Kenya in 1984 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Turkana boy, or Nariokotome boy, is the fossil KNM-WT 15000.[1] It is a nearly complete skeleton of a hominid who died in the early Pleistocene 1.5 million years ago (mya), near present-day Lake Turkana in northwest Kenya. This specimen is the most complete early human skeleton ever found. It was first classified as Homo erectus; after much heated debate, it was re-classified as Homo ergaster.[2][3]
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Catalog no. | KNM-WT 15000 |
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Common name | Turkana Boy |
Species | Tentatively assigned Homo ergaster |
Age | 1.6 mya |
Place discovered | Lake Turkana, Kenya |
Date discovered | 1984 |
Discovered by | Kamoya Kimeu/Richard Leakey |
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Turkana_boy_-_steps_of_forensic_facial_reconstruction.jpg/640px-Turkana_boy_-_steps_of_forensic_facial_reconstruction.jpg)
His age at death has been estimated from 7 years six months to as old as 15 years. The most recent scientific review suggests 8 years of age.[4] It was first thought that he would have grown to 1.85 m tall, but recently a height of 1.63 m was proposed.[4] Research showed that his growth differed from that of modern humans: he would have had a shorter and smaller adolescent growth spurt.[4]
The skeleton was discovered in 1984 by Kamoya Kimeu, a member of a team led by Richard Leakey, at Nariokotome near Lake Turkana in northwest Kenya.[5]