{"id":129,"date":"2017-09-13T20:19:29","date_gmt":"2017-09-13T20:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-history-of-our-tribe\/chapter\/13-kenyanthropus-platyops\/"},"modified":"2017-10-03T15:59:29","modified_gmt":"2017-10-03T15:59:29","slug":"13-kenyanthropus-platyops","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-history-of-our-tribe\/chapter\/13-kenyanthropus-platyops\/","title":{"raw":"13. Kenyanthropus platyops","rendered":"13. Kenyanthropus platyops"},"content":{"raw":"
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Kenyanthropus platyops<\/i> (3.5 mya)<\/b><\/h1>\r\n

(\u201cKenyan human\u201d \/ \u201cflat-faced\u201d)<\/h2>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_203\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"300\"]\"7.19\" Figure 13.1\u00a0<\/em>Kenyanthropus platyops reconstruction. \u201cKenyanthropus platyops IMG 2946<\/a>\u201d by Rama is in the public domain.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n
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SITES<\/b><\/h3>\r\nLake Turkana, Kenya\r\n

PEOPLE<\/b><\/h3>\r\nMeave Leakey\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

INTRODUCTION<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nA surprisingly \u201cflat-faced\u201d hominin came to light with Meave Leakey<\/b>\u2019s discovery and naming of Kenyanthropus platyops<\/i> (\u201cflat-faced human from Kenya\u201d) in 1999. The degree of orthognathism was surprising for such an early hominin.\r\n

PHYLOGENY<\/b><\/h2>\r\nSince the skull was crushed and reconstructed (see Figure 13.1), some paleoanthropologists discount the degree of orthognathism and would like to see the specimen assigned to genus:\u00a0Australopithecus,<\/i> and possibly to species:\u00a0afarensis<\/i>. Others feel that it is the base of our lineage, believing that a cladistic event occurred at Au. afarensis<\/i>, leading on the one hand to the robust forms (including Au. africanus<\/i>) and on the other hand toward humans. In the latter case, some would like to see K. platyops<\/i> assigned to genus: Homo<\/i>, believing it to be the ancestor of Homo rudolfensis<\/i>, with which it shares a similar orthognathic profile. Of interest is that some have speculated that the species may have made the Laetoli footprints. However, if the\u00a0platyops<\/i> fossils really belong in Au. afarensis<\/i>, it would not be news!\r\n
\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_204\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"300\"]\"7.20\" Figure 13.2\u00a0<\/em>Lake Turkana, Kenya. \u201cKenya relief location map<\/a>\u201d by Uwe Dedering is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

DISCOVERY AND GEOGRAPHIC RANGE<\/b><\/h2>\r\nK. platyops<\/i> is known only from a site in the West Lake Turkana region of Kenya (see Figures 13.2 and 13.3), where Meave Leakey\u2019s team found the crushed skull in 1999. The hypodigm<\/b> consists of a reconstructed skull, plus two partial maxillae and a temporal bone from other individuals.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_206\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"450\"]\"7.21\" Figure 13.3 Lake Turkana, Kenya. \u201cLakeTurkanaSouthIsland<\/a>\u201d by Doron is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS<\/b><\/h2>\r\nWhile possessing primitive ape-like molars (elongated mesiodistally, i.e. front to back) and sharing similarities with Au. anamensis <\/i>and afarensis<\/i>, the lower face of K. platyops<\/i> is surprisingly (and possibly mistakenly) orthognathic for its early date. The cranial capacity of K. platyops<\/i> is also suspect due to the reconstruction but if accurate, it was fairly high relative to other species of the time, at 400\u2013500 cc.\r\n
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Review of Primitive Characteristics<\/h3>\r\n