Mary Leakey

Mary Leakey (February 6 1913 – December 9 1996) was a British physical anthropologist, who, along with others, discovered the first skull of a fossil ape on Rusinga Island. For much of her career she worked with her husband Louis Leakey in the Olduvai Gorge, uncovering the tools and fossils of ancient hominines. She also discovered the Laetoli footprints.

Excavations

Her first important excavation was at Hembury Fort in Devon, England in May of 1934. Later that year, Mary performed her own excavation at Jaywick Sands. She also published her first scientific paper.

Related Topics:
Hembury Fort - Devon - 1934 - Jaywick Sands

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The years 1935 to 1959, spent at Olduvai Gorge in the Serengeti plains of Northern Tanzania, yielded many stone tools from primitive stone-chopping instruments to multi-purpose hand axes. These finds came from Stone Age cultures dated as far back as 100,000 to two million years ago.

Related Topics:
1935 - 1959 - Olduvai Gorge - Serengeti - Tanzania - Hand axes - Stone Age

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The Leakeys unearthed a Proconsul africanus skull, dated to be twenty million years old, on Rusinga Island, in October of 1947. This skull was the first skull of a fossil ape ever to be found and to this day only three of these apes are known.

Related Topics:
Proconsul africanus - Rusinga Island - 1947

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Their next discovery, in 1959, was a 1.75 million-year-old Australopithecus boisei skull. They also found a less robust Homo habilis skull and bones of a hand. After reconstructing the hand, it was proven the hand was capable of precise manipulation. Many more remains were found at this site.

Related Topics:
Australopithecus boisei - Homo habilis

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In 1965 the husband and wife team uncovered a Homo erectus skull, dated at one million years old.

Related Topics:
1965 - Homo erectus

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After Mary's husband passed on, she continued her work at Olduvai and Laetoli. It was here at the Laetoli site, that she discovered Homo fossils that were more than 3.75 million-years-old. She also discovered fifteen new species and one new genus.

Related Topics:
Olduvai - Laetoli - Species - Genus

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From 1978 to 1981 Mary and her staff worked to uncover the Laetoli hominid footprint trail which was left in volcanic ashes some 3.6 million years ago. The years that followed this disconvery were filled with research at Olduvai and Laetoli, the follow-up work to discoveries and preparing publications.

Related Topics:
1978 - 1981 - Laetoli hominid footprint - Volcanic ash

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