News in Brief Humans

Fossils reveal a strong-armed, dead-end hominid

Brawny-limbed human relative walked and climbed trees in East Africa

LIMB BREAKERS  The ends of a leg bone (top) and arm bone (bottom) from a 1.34-million-year-old member of Paranthropus boisei were probably chewed off by meat-eating animals. The bones reveal P. boisei had robust arms and legs.  

M. Domínguez-Rodrigo et al/PLOS ONE 2013

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

A first look at the strapping arms and legs of an unusual member of the human evolutionary family has arisen from new fossil finds at Tanzania’s famous Olduvai Gorge site.