Sites
Kanapoi
Wikipedia data hasn't been reviewed for accuracy by the Gignos Research Team
- Site type:
- Unknown, Cave
- Site function:
- Na
- Lat/Long:
- 2.31, 36.07
- Country:
- Kenya
- Date range max:
- 5,333,000 Bp
- Date range min:
- 2,588,000 Bp
- Classifications:
- Australopithecus, Praeanthropus anamensis
Australopithecus anamensis bone (University of Zurich) - Kanapoi, KNM-KP 271
Kanapoi is a paleontological site in the Kenyan Rift Valley, to the southwest of Lake Turkana. Fossils were first found at Kanapoi in the 1960s by a Harvard expedition, and later by expeditions from the National Museums of Kenya.
Fossils at Kanapoi were deposited in sediments formed by lake margins, rivers and deltas between 3.4 - 4.2 Million years ago (Ma). Kanapoi fossils include a diverse array of fish, turtles, crocodiles, primates including likely human ancestors, elephants, giraffes, rhinoceroses, rodents, horses, hippos, pigs and a variety of herbivores and carnivores.
The hominin Australopithecus anamensis appears in Kanapoi between 3.9 and 4.2 Ma, one of a number of fossil specimens demonstrating that human ancestors were already bipedal by this time. Kanapoi also is the site of archaeological discoveries.