News Anthropology

Footprints offer a rare look at ancient human relatives crossing paths

The prints reveal distinct gaits of coexisting hominid species

An indentation in the ground surrounded by small white rulers.

Hominid footprints preserved at a 1.5-million-year-old Kenyan site include an impression, shown here, attributed to Paranthropus boisei. Two hominid species probably interacted at the ancient lake site, researchers say.

Kevin G. Hatala

By Bruce Bower

Two ancient hominid species with slightly different gaits crossed paths in East Africa.

Footprints preserved on what was once a muddy lakeshore indicate that the two species, each built to walk in its own way, hung out there around 1.5