Ancient Footprints Reveal Hominin Handshake 1.5M Years Ago

Excavations at Kenya’s Lake Turkana site unveiled 1.5-million-year-old footprints showing Homo erectus and Paranthropus boisei sharing the same lakeshore. Led by Kevin Hatala and Louise Leakey, the team combined digs from 1978 and 2021 to reveal these ancient neighbors walked side by side, possibly crossing paths daily. Using advanced 3D imaging, researchers distinguished their unique gait patterns, offering fresh insights into human evolution and sparking debates on early hominin interactions. Footloose and fossil-free!