(CNN)Kenyan paleoanthropologist and conservationist Richard Leakey, who unearthed proof that helped display humankind gracious in Africa, died on Sunday at the age of 77, Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta confirmed in a assertion.
“I truly like this afternoon, Sunday 2nd January 2022, got with deep sorrow the unhappy recordsdata of the passing away of Dr. Richard Erskine Frere Leakey, Kenya’s ragged Head of Public Provider,” Kenyatta’s assertion mentioned.
“On behalf of the folks of Kenya, my family and on my like behalf, I send heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the family, chums and friends of Dr. Richard Leakey for the duration of this tough duration of mourning.”
Leakey got right here from a family of properly-known archeologists. His mother, Mary Leakey, discovered proof in 1978 that man walked correct unprecedented sooner than had been thought. She and her husband, Louis Leakey, unearthed skulls of ape-admire early folks, shedding new gentle on our ancestors.
Richard Leakey may possibly presumably possibly be handiest known for his discovery of fossils, in particular the 1984 excavation of the bones of “Turkana Boy,” a nearly full skeleton of a young male Homo erectus dating to 1.6 million years ago. He furthermore turned a number one power within the grief to end the poaching of elephants and rhinos in Kenya, in accordance with the Royal Society.
Moreover his work as a scientist, he held a exchange of legit positions in Kenya, together with director of the Nationwide Museums of Kenya and chairman of the Kenya Plants and fauna Provider.
CNN’s Eric Levenson contributed to this divulge.
