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KNM-ER 1481

 
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KNM-ER 1481
Exhibit item
Site: 
Koobi Fora, Kenya
Date of discovery: 
1972
Discovered by: 
John M. Harris
Age: 
About 1.89 million years old
Species: 
Homo erectus

Longer legs and travel to new regions

This long 1.89 million year old femur (thigh bone), KNM-ER 1481 from Koobi Fora, Kenya, enabled its owner, a Homo erectus individual, to take long strides and therefore to walk farther and faster than earlier humans.

 

Image of KNM-ER 1481, left femur
Image Credit: Chip Clark, Smithsonian Institution