X

Google Doodle digs into the Turkana Human

The 1984 discovery of this nearly complete skeleton taught researchers more about Homo erectus.

Natalie Weinstein Former Senior Editor / News
I spent a decade as a reporter and editor before joining the CNET News staff as a copy editor in 2000, right before the dot-com bust.
Expertise Copy editing. Curating, editing and reading newsletters of all stripes. Playing any word-related game, specifically Scrabble, Wordle and Boggle. Credentials
  • I've been a journalist for more than three decades. I was a finalist in the 2021 Digiday Media Award for Best Newsletter.
See full bio
Natalie Weinstein
Google

Google Doodle marked the 1984 discovery of the Turkana Human, the most complete early human skeleton ever found, on Sunday. The animated doodle shows dozens of bone fragments assembling into a skull, next to a full skeleton.

The Turkana Human has also been known as Turkana Boy. According to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, his skeleton has taught researchers about the body size and shape and the growth rate of Homo erectus, the oldest known early humans with "modern human-like body proportions," 

He lived about 1.6 million years ago in central eastern Africa. At the age of 8 or 9 years old, he stood 5 feet, 3 inches (1.6 meters) tall and weighed 106 pounds (48 kilograms), according to the Smithsonian.

Turkana Boy's skeleton was discovered 37 years ago on the shore of Lake Turkana in northern Kenya by Kamoya Kimeu, a legendary fossil collector who worked with paleontologists from the famous Leakey family.