What was Mary leakey famous for?

Answer 1

Mary Leakey is famous for her finds in Olduvai Gorge and Laetoli which included the first skull of a fossil ape in 1959 and the discovery of an 89 foot trail of early human footprints which dated back to 3.6 million years ago. She's also the wife of Louis Leakey, world renowned paleontologist who declared mankind evolved in Africa!

Answer 2

Mary Leaky was an eminent Archaeologist and Anthropologist. She was famous for many discoveries.

In 1947 she and her husband, Louis Leaky, discovered the first ever skull from fossilized ape while on a dig in Rusinga Island, Lake Victoria in Africa. The ape now known as Proconsul Afrianus lived over 20 million years ago.

In 1959 they discovered what was to become their most famous discovery, a 1.75 million year old Australopithecus Boisei from a site in Olduvai Gorge in Northern Tanzania. Also at this site they found the skull hand bones from a Homo Habilis. After reconstruction the hand bones proved that Homo habilis was capable of precise manipulation.

In 1965 at the same site they found bones from the 1 million year old Homo Erectus.

After the death of her husband she went on to find many hominid bones dating from over 3.75 million years ago. She discovered 15 new species and a new genus.

From 1976 onwards she and her team worked to uncover the Laetoli hominid footprints which were made in volcanic ash some 3.6 million years ago.

Answer 3

Mary Leakey was famous for her archaeological discoveries in East Africa, particularly for finding the fossilized skull of Proconsul africanus, an early ape-like hominid. She also discovered the Laetoli footprints, which provided evidence of early hominids walking upright 3.6 million years ago.

Answer 4

She found "Lucy" (Australopithecus afarensis), an ancient human ancestor while digging in Africa. This was a major discovery in ancient anthropology.