Australopithecus aethiopicus skull, KNM-WT 17000  (2.5 million years)

The Australopithecus aethiopicus Skull KNM-WT 17000 was discovered by A. Walker in 1985 on the west shore of Lake Turkana in northern Kenya.  It was described by Walker, Leakey, Harris and Brown in Nature in 1986.  The skull is commonly referred to as the "Black Skull" due to its blue-black colour.  Although not considered on a direct line to humans, it gives insights into early hominid evolution.  Although it shares many primitive features with A. afarensis (e.g., projecting face, small cranial capacity of 410cm³), it also has features typical of australopithecine species, e.g. projecting face, large sagittal crest and jaws, and expanded cheek teeth. Given that it seems to fall between A. afarensis and A. boisei, it was given its own species name.

Stand available - see product code SBH008.

Model size: 22(L) x 15(W) x 13(H) cm

The Bone Clones® Hominid Series

Our aim is to provide the best possible facsimile models of the most important hominid finds for the general public, educators and students, using the best reference material available.  Each hominid has been carefully researched and re-created based on some or all of the following: casts of original fossils, the latest literature (descriptions and/or published measurements), input from the scientific community and full colour, life-size photographs.  Every effort has been made to accurately re-create anatomical details of colour, size, shape, reconstructed areas, and bone/fossil texture.  The hominids offered in this series are high quality, artistic recreations that can be advantageously used by educators as important visual aids in the classroom and appreciated by the general public.  They are not intended for advanced graduate work nor to be measured for research purposes.

(Information courtesy Bone Clones, Inc)