Кени улсын Туркана нуурын ойролцоогоос олдсон эртний хүмүүний мөр нь Paranthropus boisei зүйлийн биеийн бүтэц, нийгмийн зан үйлийн талаарх шинжлэх ухааны ойлголтыг өөрчилж байна.
“Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” сэтгүүлд нийтлэгдсэн уг судалгааг Смитсоны байгалийн түүхийн үндэсний музейн палеонтологич Кэй Беренсмейер 1978 онд анх илрүүлсэн GaJi10 талбайд хийжээ. Судлаачид 1.43 сая жилийн өмнөх эртний нуурын эрэг дээрх зөөлөн шаварлаг хөрсөнд үлдсэн 21 ширхэг мөрийг шинжилсэн байна. Эдгээр мөр нь найман бие хүнийх бөгөөд тухайн үед усны үхэр, антилоп зэрэг том биет амьтад мөн тус газраар зорчиж байсныг гэрчилж байна.
Судалгаагаар Paranthropus boisei зүйл нь өмнө нь таамаглаж байснаас илүү том биетэй буюу 1.8 метр хүртэл өндөр, 75 орчим кг жинтэй байсныг тогтоожээ. Мөрийн хэмжээ, алхалтын хэв маягийг шинжлэхэд тэдгээр нь Homo erectus-тай харьцуулж болохуйц биеийн хэмжээтэй байсан нь тогтоогдсон юм. Үүнээс гадна, тус бүс нутагт Paranthropus boisei болон Homo erectus зүйлүүд нэгэн зэрэг амьдарч байсныг баталсан байна.
Мөрийн байрлал нь Paranthropus boisei-ийн нийгмийн бүтцийн талаар шинэ мэдээлэл өгч байна. Тухайлбал, насанд хүрсэн найман эрэгчин нэгэн зэрэг бүлгээр зорчиж байсан ул мөр олдсон нь тэднийг илүү төвөгтэй нийгмийн бүтэцтэй байсныг илтгэж байна. Судлаач Кевин Хаталагийн онцолсноор, мөр нь зөвхөн анатомийн бус, тухайн агшин дахь бодит зан үйлийг харуулдаг онцгой ач холбогдолтой олдвор юм.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
A set of 1.43-million-year-old footprints uncovered near Lake Turkana in northern Kenya is reshaping scientists’ understanding of Paranthropus boisei. The fossilized tracks indicate the extinct hominin may have been larger than previously believed and that adult males sometimes moved together in groups.
The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), are based on footprints preserved in ancient lakeshore sediments. Rather than relying solely on bones and teeth, the research captures a brief moment in the lives of individuals who crossed a muddy shoreline during the Early Pleistocene.
For decades, Paranthropus boisei has remained one of the more enigmatic members of the human family tree. Most of what scientists knew about the species came from a limited number of fossilized skulls and teeth, leaving questions about its body size, movement, and social behavior largely unanswered.
The newly studied trackways provide a different kind of evidence. Fossil footprints record movement at a precise moment in time, allowing researchers to examine body proportions, walking patterns, and the composition of groups in ways skeletal remains cannot.
A Lakeshore Preserved A Rare Record Of Prehistoric Life
The footprints were discovered at the GaJi10 site near Lake Turkana, where impressions left in soft mud were later covered by sand deposited by gentle shoreline currents. The site was first identified in 1978 by Kay Behrensmeyer, a paleontologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, who returned over the years to continue excavating the area.
The research documented 21 footprints left by eight hominin individuals, all dating to around 1.43 million years ago. The excavation also revealed tracks from hippopotamuses, antelopes, and other large animals that occupied the same lakeshore.
A nearby trackway adds another dimension to the discovery. The study reports that footprints belonging to both Paranthropus boisei and Homo erectus were preserved in the same area, demonstrating that the two hominin species inhabited the region during the same period.
“We can’t say how the two different hominins interacted on the mudflats, but we know they were both here at this time,” Behrensmeyer said in remarks accompanying the publication.
The Footprints Point To A Larger Body Than Expected
Until now, reconstructions of Paranthropus boisei relied mainly on cranial fossils, giving researchers only a partial understanding of the species. Its powerful jaws and massive teeth became defining characteristics, while overall body size remained uncertain.
The newly research analyzed footprints provide fresh anatomical evidence. By examining gait patterns together with the dimensions of the tracks, researchers concluded that Paranthropus boisei was comparable in size to Homo erectus rather than substantially stockier.
“The sizes of the footprints indicate human-like body sizes – up to 1.8 meters tall and around 75 kilograms,” said Kevin Hatala, an evolutionary anthropologist at Chatham University and co-author of the study.
Those estimates differ from long-standing assumptions about the species and expand what is known from skeletal remains alone, while remaining entirely based on the footprint evidence collected at the site.
Ancient Trackways Reveal Social Behavior
The arrangement of the footprints reveals how these ancient hominins likely traveled across the landscape. One sequence at GaJi10 indicates that eight mostly adult male Paranthropus boisei individuals traveled together near the lakeshore.
Researchers found no evidence of females or children within that particular group of tracks. The study suggests this pattern may reflect episodes in which adult males traveled together, pointing to a more complex social structure than previously recognized for the species.
Behrensmeyer emphasized that footprints offer a unique perspective because they preserve behavior rather than anatomy alone. As she explained:
“The special thing about footprints scientifically is that they preserve an instant in time. They also allow people to relate to these fossils much more easily than an isolated piece of bone or jaw.”
Without extending beyond the evidence preserved in the ancient mud, the footprints add new information about the species’ body size, its presence alongside Homo erectus, and the possibility that adult males sometimes traveled together.
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