Named By: | Richard Leakey & Meave Leakey in 1986 |
Time Period: | Miocene |
Location: | Kenya |
Size: | Around 1.5 meters |
Diet: | Herbivore |
Fossil(s): | Multiple specimens of over 45 individuals, although usually of fragmentary remains |
Classification: | | Chordata | Mammalia | Primates | Hominoidea | Proconsulidae | Afropithecinae | |
Afropithecus turkanensis is a Miocene hominoid which was excavated from a small site near Lake Turkana called Kalodirr in northern Kenya in 1986 and was named by Richard Leakey and Meave Leakey. The estimated age of Afropithecus is between 16 and 18 million years old, which was determined with radiometric dating techniques and the geological studies conducted by Broschetto and Brown from the University of Utah. In total there are 46 recovered specimens from Kalodirr relating to Afropithecus consisting of cranial, mandible, dentition and post-cranial remains. The type specimen of Afropithecus turkanensis is KNM-WK 16999.