In this series, actor Ashley Judd tells the stories behind some of the most important human origins discoveries of the past 50 years. This prologue explores the fossil find that launched the scientific saga of the Leakey family and the quest to uncover humanity’s origins.
In this series, actor Ashley Judd tells the stories behind some of the most important human origins discoveries of the past 50 years. This prologue explores the fossil find that launched the scientific saga of the Leakey family and the quest to uncover humanity’s origins.
About The Leakey Foundation
The Leakey Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding human origins research and sharing discoveries. The Foundation was established in 1968 to fund work at the forefront of fossil and primate studies and provide opportunities for a global community of scientists. Learn more at leakeyfoundation.org.
Discovering Us: 50 Great Discoveries in Human Origins
In 50 lively and up-to-the-minute essays illustrated with full-color photographs, Discovering Us: 50 Great Discoveries in Human Origins presents stories of the most exciting and groundbreaking surprises revealed by human origins research.
Prepared in consultation with leading experts and written by Evan Hadingham, senior science editor for NOVA, Discovering Us features stunning photographs, some taken at the actual moment that groundbreaking discoveries were made. The book presents a highly accessible account of the latest scientific insights into the ultimate question of humanity’s origins. Discovering Us was published by Signature Books.
Find Discovering Us at your local library, bookstore, or amazon.com.
Show Credits:
Discovering Us was made possible by generous support from Camilla and George Smith, the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, and the Joan and Arnold Travis Education Fund.
[Music]
Meredith Johnson: This is Discovering Us. An audio companion to the book Discovering Us: 50 Great Discoveries in Human Origins written by Evan Hadingham and brought to you by The Leakey Foundation and Signature Books.
The stories in this series will be read for you by Ashley Judd.
I’m your host Meredith Johnson. Before you hear from Ashley, I want to take us back to the morning of July 17, 1959…when archaeologist Mary Leakey took her two Dalmatians for a walk in Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge. Her husband, Louis, who was recovering from the flu, was resting back in camp.
Mary soon reached the site where Louis had first discovered prehistoric stone tools in 1931, a find that convinced him of Olduvai’s potential to throw light on the riddle of human origins.
At Around 11 a.m., she noticed a bit of bone sticking out from the dirt on a nearby slope. Brushing aside some of the earth, she saw two big, black-brown teeth set in a massive upper jaw. The teeth immediately told her that she had found the skull of a human ancestor.
The Leakeys had worked at Olduvai Gorge continuously for nearly 30 years- without finding a single hominin fossil.
According to the Leakeys’ biographer, Mary rushed madly back to camp and cried out: “I’ve got him! I’ve got him! I’ve got him!”
Groggy with fever, Louis asked, “Got what? Are you hurt?”
Mary said, “Him, the man! Our man! The one we’ve been looking for. Come quick. I’ve found his teeth!”
Despite his illness, Louis leapt out of bed, and they sped back to the site. Mary swept the rest of the dirt away to reveal an almost complete, incredibly thick-boned skull. Louis’s first reaction was disappointment.
At first look, the enormous teeth actually resembled those of an Australopithecus, the extinct creatures that had been found decades earlier in South African caves. Although they were upright walkers, Louis saw them as too primitive and ape-like to be part of the human family tree.
A few hours later, continuing to study the huge skull back in their camp, Louis spotted a few human-like details. And he was seized with excitement. Now he was convinced that the new find, which he was to name Zinjanthropus boisei, was indeed a crucial part of the human story.
And Louis thought of it as the connecting link between the extinct creatures that had been found in South Africa and living humans.
Mary and Louis Leakey’s discovery became a worldwide sensation. A spellbinding communicator, Louis lectured about Zinj to packed halls in the U.S. and England, while National Geographic’s articles and films made both of the Leakeys a household name.
National Geographic also gave them sorely needed funds to begin serious excavations at Olduvai.
It was the start of the scientific saga of the Leakey family: a half-century of groundbreaking discoveries in East Africa, begun by Louis and Mary and continued through their son Richard Leakey, Richard’s wife Meave, and now Louis and Mary’s granddaughter, Louise Leakey.
Meanwhile, the impact of the Leakey dynasty has been multiplied many times over by The Leakey Foundation. The Foundation was established in 1968 to fund work at the forefront of fossil and primate studies and provide opportunities for up-and-coming scientists.
In the decades since Mary Leakey’s discovery at Olduvai Gorge, The Leakey Foundation has made it possible for generations of researchers to continue the fascinating quest to understand ourselves and our origins.
The quest has expanded well beyond Olduvai – to fossil and primate sites, forests, caverns, and laboratories around the world.
The book Discovering Us tells the stories behind 50 of the most important human origins discoveries of the past 50 years.
In this audio series, you’ll hear a handful of tales from the book that show the power of curiosity and the wonders of science.
You’ll learn about key fossil finds and gain insights gleaned from the study of our closest living relatives.
The stories will be read to you by Ashley Judd who is a passionate advocate for primate research and women in science.
All the episodes are available for you to download right now. So please join Ashley Judd and explore the human story – from our evolutionary roots to the unknown possibilities of our future.