New fossils reveal the hand of Paranthropus boisei
When Mary Leakey discovered the OH 5 cranium of Paranthropus boisei alongside Oldowan stone artefacts, it was declared "the oldest yet discovered maker of stone tools"<sup>1</sup>. Whether Paranthropus made and used tools has been debated ever since<sup>2-4</sup>, largely because there are no known hand bones that can be definitively attributed to this genus. Here we report fossil hand and foot bones unambiguously associated with craniodental material of P. boisei. KNM-ER 101000 demonstrates that P. boisei shared key manipulative and bipedal adaptations with the genus Homo. Moreover, the hand morphology of KNM-ER 101000 converges on that of gorillas in ways that are consistent with manual food processing and would have facilitated powerful grasping, such as that used in climbing. These fossils suggest that P. boisei was capable of tool making and use in some capacity while also supporting the proposed dichotomy of distinct dietary adaptations between Paranthropus and Homo. In addition to offering insights into the poorly known postcranial functional anatomy of Paranthropus, this discovery illuminates broader patterns of hominin hand evolution and tool use.
Authors
- Frederick E. Grine (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5310-9005)
- Craig S. Feibel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2481-4044)
- James B. Rossie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7453-8370)
- Caley M. Orr (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1156-1543)
- Thomas C. Prang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3032-8309)
- Winfred Mbogo
- Cyprian Nyete
- Matthew W. Tocheri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7600-8998)
- Carrie S. Mongle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5474-0501)
- Anton du Plessis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4370-8661)
- Biren A. Patel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1844-1931)
- Louise Leakey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3420-6341)
- Tara E. Hobbs
- Stephanie Maiolino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4217-1791)
- Martin Kirinya
- Meave G. Leakey
- Ezekiel Linga
- Richard Loki
- Malmalo Longaye
- Emmanuel Lonyericho
- Iyole Loyapan
- Nyiber Nakudo
- Ibrae Dalacha
- John Lonyericho
- William Woto Huka
- Hilary Sale
- Abdi Umuro
- Peter Yirgudo
- Apolo Longaye
- Olivia Laureijs
Institutions
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
- Smithsonian Institution (US)
- Planetary Science Institute (US)
- Australian Research Council (AU)
- American Museum of Natural History (US)
- National Museum of Natural History (US)
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- University of Wollongong (AU)
- Stellenbosch University (ZA)
- Keck Hospital of USC (US)
- Benchmark Research (United States) (US)
- Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (US)
- National Museums of Kenya (KE)
- University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (US)
- Stony Brook University (US)
- Lakehead University (CA)
- University of Colorado Denver (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature
- Published
- 2025-10-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09594-8
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 17.32