Historically, the fossil discovery is interesting because the first discoveries of P. boisei were published by Louis and Mary Leakey in the 1950s and 60s. The new fossils were discovered by a team led by his granddaughter Louise Leakey. 6/

P. bosiei also shows distinctive gorilla-like features including broad phalanges with strong ridges for the tendon sheaths and a hyper-robust hypothenar (“pinky”) region. Other hominins lack these features indicating that P. boisei must have acquired them via convergent evolution with gorillas. 3/

The thumb/finger proportions of P. boisei match those of H. sapiens. Other early hominins do too, but unlike earlier species of Australopithecus, P. boisei shares a robust thumb previously only documented for the genus Homo. These traits show P. boisei was likely capable of making & using tools. 2/

Hadn't come across this preprint(?) until today: previously undescribed hominin fossils from the Tugen Hills, Kenya dated to 5.2-4.5 million years ago including mandibular fragments and a complete pedal proximal phalanx. Important time period. #paleoanthropology 🏺🧪
hal.science/hal-03908263...

Some nice pics of arboreal gorillas.

Our 3D scans of the ~2.0 million-year-old hominin pelvis (DNH 43) from Drimolen (Cradle of Humankind, South Africa) publicly available at this link. Species is most likely Paranthropus robustus. Please use scans & cite Berg et al (2025). #paleoanthropology 🏺🧪
human-fossil-record.org/index.php?/c...

DNH 43 has a human-like sacral tilt suggesting a well-developed a lumbar lordosis (lower back concavity that positions trunk over the hips). Some fossil hominins have less tilted sacra, but DNH 43 shows an otherwise australopith-like pelvis doesn't rule out human-like alignment of back & pelvis. 5/

This was a very small hominin! Together, the three articulating bones show that P. robustus was undoubtedly bipedal. However, it may have had slight differences in its gait kinematics versus Homo sapiens given features such as the longer, more anteposteriorly compressed femoral neck.

Many of my colleagues in #paleoanthropolgy have published important findings related to the Taung Child specimen of Australopithecus africanus. And all I've had to offer is exasperation and disappointment that there's not a single hand bone preserved.

An open-access collection of early fossil hominin scans from Swartkrans, South Africa was recently published in the journal PaleoAnthropology by Skinner et al. Both Paranthropus robustus & early Homo are represented in the assemblage.
paleoanthropology.org/ojs/index.ph...
🏺🧪🦣
#paleoanthropology

I guess I may never get one of these emails again, because unless #Elsevier shapes up and addresses the concerns of the #paleoanthropology community, I don't plan to review for JHE again.

Students can play music in the lab, but the course director reserves the right to get judgy. Them's the rules. #ITeachAnatomy #AnatomyEducation

Though we run in the same professional circles, I did find it a bit odd to see "Assoc Prof Robyn Pickering" just casually in my DMs this morning. 😅 Reported.

In the 2010 genome paper, Green et al said old substructure in Africa + incomplete lineage sorting was an alternative explanation for "Neanderthal genes" in Eurasians (Scenario 4 in Fig. 6). It got buried and I've never quite understood why admixture models were preferred (I'm a bone guy though)

Today's the 50th anniversary of the discovery in Ethiopia of the famous 3.2 million year old "Lucy" specimen of Australopithecus afarensis. So here's a photo from 2001 of the Institute of Human Origins team mugging at the site with discoverer Don Johanson on the 27th anniversary. #paleoanthropology

Felids FTW.

Looks good! Sorry, I left for fieldwork and never did get back to you on the Prusa color I've been using for bones (mostly fossils). It's "desert tan." Example: distal humerus of Paranthropus robustus.

You better watch out, you better not cry. #FossilFriday

Hey. I'm from Colorado & love blue skies. Glad to be here. I'm a paleoanthropologist & primate functional morphologist interested in all aspects of human origins. I teach human gross anatomy to health science students & really like loud, noisy rock & roll (and cats). Nice to meet you.