We also re-analyzed large similarly aged footprint assemblages from East Turkana, and found evidence of two different kinds of footprints at multiple sites. It’s possible that these species shared lake margin habitats for more than 100,000 years!

We found that the two isolated prints are human-like, while the long trackway is different and resembles 3.66 Ma Australopithecus tracks from Laetoli. We attribute the Australopithecus-like footprints to P. boisei (on the left below), and the human-like footprints to H. erectus (on the right).

Using methods that we developed by using biplanar X-ray and particle simulation to understand how human footprints form (with @peterfalkingham.bsky.social and Steve Gatesy), we analyzed the footprints to see what they might reveal about how these hominins were moving.

The site preserves one amazing, 12-step hominin trackway as well as 3 additional, isolated footprints of different hominin individuals.