News Anthropology

Turkana Boy sparks row over Homo erectus height

Studies differ on whether 8-year-old would have reached modern human stature

GETTING BIGGER, MAYBE  Scientists disagree about whether a Homo erectus boy from 1.5 million years ago, represented here by a cast of the child’s skull, had a modern, humanlike teenage growth spurt.

Philippe Plailly/Science Source

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

CALGARY, Alberta — A Stone Age boy stands at the center of a controversy over when members of the human evolutionary family first reached heights and weights comparable to those of modern human adults.