A New Species of The Genus Homo From Olduvai Gorge

on the west side of Lake Natron, some fifty miles north-east of Olduvai Gorge. Initial exploration of this area was carried out under the leadership of my son, Richard Leakey, who was later joined by Mr. Glynn Isaac, who took charge of the scientific side of the work. Mrs. Isaac, Mr. Richard Rowe and Philip Leakey also took part, as well as a number of our African staff. On January 11 one of our African staff, Mr. Kamoya Kimeu, located a magnificient fossil hominid jaw in situ (see Figs. 6 and 7). This jaw, unlike specimens (A), (B), (C) and (D) here, represents an unmistakable australopithecine and provides, for the first time, a mandible representing this sub-family from East Africa. It will be recalled that in earlier notes in Nature and elsewhere, we have stressed the fact that the juvenile and the other fossil remains from site F.L.K.N.N. I, found in 1960, did not represent an australopithecine such as Australopithecus (Zinianthropus) boisei, but were wholly distinct and different. It was stated that these must be thought of as representing a contemporary and primitive hominine branch of the Hominidae. We refrained from giving a scientific name to the material from site F.L.K.N.N. I-the juvenile and the female-together with other specimens representing the same type (the molar tooth from site M.K. I) until there were better data on which to decide just where to place this type of hominid in the taxonomic sequence. The new material found in 1963 makes it possible to draw conclusions and to give a diagnosis for a new species of the genus Homo. This diagnosis and a preliminary description by Leakey, Tobias and Napier follow this article.