Australopithecus anamensis

The “Southern Ape of the Lake”

Fossils for this hominid were originally found in 1965, although the specimens were not identified until the early 90’s by a team headed by Meave Leakey. The original and subsequent fossils were found in the Kanapoi and Allia Bay regions near Lake Turka, in Kenya. The work done by Leakey et al. on related faunal remains and stratigraphical dates put the fossils in a range from 4.2-3.9 ma. Upon examination, it can be determined that the fossils can be distinguished from those of Ardipithecus ramidus, another early hominid species, but they are not so easily separated from the famous species of “Lucy,” Australopithecus afarensis.

The morphological and evolutional discussions of this species can be found in the Discussion section of this web site.

Map of Hominid Finds From East Africa: #14 is Allia Bay and #16 is Kanapoi.

(Map: National Geographic Society)