Multi-scale analysis of juvenile Paranthropus boisei fossils from Kenya

This proposal seeks to generate high quality 3D image data sets of two unique early human fossils recently found during fieldwork in northern Kenya. These are a juvenile male cranium with associated partial pelvis and an unrelated juvenile male mandible, both attributable to the species Paranthropus boisei and over 1.5 million years old. Despite the substantial fossil record of this enigmatic hominin species, these juvenile specimens are unprecedented finds. Image data will unlock key aspects of their developmental age and pattern of maturation, the developing brain, the sensory characteristics of hearing and balance, and the biomechanics of bipedal locomotion. The results will make a major contribution to our knowledge of P. boisei, the species with the most extreme adaptations of it jaws in the human evolutionary tree.