New hominin remains and revised context from the earliest Homo erectus locality in East Turkana, Kenya

Ashley S. Hammond*, Silindokuhle S. Mavuso, Maryse Biernat, David R. Braun, Zubair Jinnah, Sharon Kuo, Sahleselasie Melaku, Sylvia N. Wemanya, Emmanuel K. Ndiema, David B. Patterson, Kevin T. Uno, Dan V. Palcu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The KNM-ER 2598 occipital is among the oldest fossils attributed to Homo erectus but questions have been raised about whether it may derive from a younger horizon. Here we report on efforts to relocate the KNM-ER 2598 locality and investigate its paleontological and geological context. Although located in a different East Turkana collection area (Area 13) than initially reported, the locality is stratigraphically positioned below the KBS Tuff and the outcrops show no evidence of deflation of a younger unit, supporting an age of >1.855 Ma. Newly recovered faunal material consists primarily of C4 grazers, further confirmed by enamel isotope data. A hominin proximal 3rd metatarsal and partial ilium were discovered <50 m from the reconstructed location where KNM-ER 2598 was originally found but these cannot be associated directly with the occipital. The postcrania are consistent with fossil Homo and may represent the earliest postcrania attributable to Homo erectus.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1939
Pages (from-to)1-12
JournalNature Communications
Volume12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Apr 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank the National Museums of Kenya, the Kenyan National Commission for Science, Innovation, and Technology (NACOSTI), the Kenyan Department of Mining, and the Daasenach community. Tim White, Christoph Zollikofer, Marcia Ponce de León, Bereket Haileab, Craig Feibel, Erin DiMaggio, Patrick Gathogo, Thure Cerling, Kyalo Manthi, Carrie Mongle, Ionuț Șandric, and Louise Leakey are thanked for providing helpful conversations, data, and/or photographs. Purity Kiera, Robert Moru, Andrew Barr, Frances Forrest, Oumeyma Ben Brahim, Leah Myerholtz, Wendy Khumalo, Christopher Smith, and all other Koobi Fora Field School students and staff provided research support. Funding provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF REU 1852441, NSF 1358178, NSF 1624398), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP grant number 2018/208733-6), and the American Museum of Natural History.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).

Funding

We thank the National Museums of Kenya, the Kenyan National Commission for Science, Innovation, and Technology (NACOSTI), the Kenyan Department of Mining, and the Daasenach community. Tim White, Christoph Zollikofer, Marcia Ponce de León, Bereket Haileab, Craig Feibel, Erin DiMaggio, Patrick Gathogo, Thure Cerling, Kyalo Manthi, Carrie Mongle, Ionuț Șandric, and Louise Leakey are thanked for providing helpful conversations, data, and/or photographs. Purity Kiera, Robert Moru, Andrew Barr, Frances Forrest, Oumeyma Ben Brahim, Leah Myerholtz, Wendy Khumalo, Christopher Smith, and all other Koobi Fora Field School students and staff provided research support. Funding provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF REU 1852441, NSF 1358178, NSF 1624398), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP grant number 2018/208733-6), and the American Museum of Natural History.

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