Hominin research takes another big step3 August 2009
Professor Matthew Bennett has returned to East Africa to further his research into early hominin footprints. In February this year, Professor Bennett’s cover story in Science concluded that footprints recently discovered near Ileret in Northern Kenya were left by one of our evolutionary ancestors, Homo erectus. The footprints, from 1.51 to1.53 million years ago, reveal a modern foot anatomy and function with evidence that whoever left them walked much like we do today. “There is the intriguing possibility that a different hominin species made the new prints which needs further investigation.” Professor Bennett scanned the footprints using an optical laser scanner which captures the morphology of the prints to within a fraction of a millimetre. The scanner is mounted on a custom built frame that was designed and built at BU by its School of Design, Engineering and Computing. The morphology data will allow Professor Bennett statistically to compare the prints with those recorded to the north over the last few years. Recently, Professor Bennett submitted a research bid to the National Environment Research Council (NERC) in collaboration with Professor Robin Crompton of Liverpool University for over £800k to continue this research and uncover further information about the evolution of human gait in our ancestors. Return to News Archive page Return to News Menu page |