Mary Leakey discovered the ancient footprints at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania in 1978. These footprints provided evidence of early human ancestors walking upright around 3.6 million years ago.
Louis and Mary Leaky had 3 children, all of them were boys.
Louis and Mary Leakey
Louis and Mary Leakey were famous and highly accomplished archaeologists and anthropologists working in Africa. Louis died in 1972, and Mary took over direction of the family fossil business. She died in 1996. The found fossils that showed there were Homo Habilis. Louis Leaky found a stone tool in 1931 and in 1959 he found many bones-like skulls, jawbones, and foot bones. Theses were evidence of Homo Habilis.
Louis Leakey discovered important hominin fossils in East Africa, including the first fossilized Proconsul ape in 1948. He also supported the work of his wife, Mary Leakey, who discovered the famous hominin fossil "Zinjanthropus" in Olduvai Gorge in 1959. Louis and Mary Leakey contributed significantly to the understanding of human evolution.
Dr. Mary Leaky found the australopithecus footprint in Africa
Mary and Louis Leakey found Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania by chance in 1931 while on an archaeological expedition. They were searching for stone tools and evidence of early humans when they stumbled upon the site, which later became famous for its rich fossil record of human evolution.
Mary Leakey, Louis Leakey, and Donald Johanson have made significant contributions to our understanding of human origins through their discoveries of important fossil hominins. Mary and Louis Leakey discovered the earliest known hominin footprints at Laetoli, Tanzania, providing insights into bipedal locomotion. Donald Johanson discovered the famous "Lucy" fossil in Ethiopia, which belongs to the species Australopithecus afarensis and has expanded our knowledge of early human evolution.
Great Rift Valley
Mary and Louis Leakey recovered fossils of Homo habilis, Paranthropus boisei, and Homo erectus from successive layers of sediment in the Gorge. Along with evidence of tool making, these fossils provide much information on increasing developmental and social complexities in the earliest humans.
Mary Leaky (1913-1996) died in Kenya at age 83, of unknown causes. Likely it was a combination of age-related disorders.
Mary Leaky