Louis Leakey

Born: August 7, 1903; Kabete, Kenya
Died: October 1, 1972; London, England
Fields of study: Anthropology, evolutionary science, human origins, paleontology
Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey was born in Kenya to English missionary parents. He trained as an anthropologist at the University of Cambridge, where he developed the dream of looking for evidence of ancient humans in Africa. From university he was graduated with first class honors in modern languages, archaeology, and anthropology. He is credited with the discovery of the first large-toothed australopithecine at Olduvai Gorge in 1955. At the time, Louis thought this apelike creature was the “missing link” between apelike creatures and humans because of the nearby discovery of very primitive paleoliths (stone tools) dated between 1 and 2.5 million years ago. He uncovered the first fossils of Homo habilis at Olduvai Gorge in 1960, claiming them as direct ancestors of modern humans. Among his many books, perhaps the most significant are Adam’s Ancestors (1934; rev. ed. 1960), Stone Age Races in Kenya (1935; 2d ed. 1970), and Olduvai Gorge, 1951- 1961 (1965).
The discoveries made by Louis Leakey helped to establish the fact that a number of different biped species of Australopithecus and different species of Homo were living together in Africa 1.8 million years before the present. Locomotion on two legs was the first human trait to develop, at least 3.6 million years ago, but it developed first in a number of nonhuman animals, various species of Australopithecus.