Specimen List

Paranthropus aethiopicus

Omo 18-1967-18

  • Geologic Age:

    2.5 Ma

  • Discovery Date:

    1967

  • Discovered By:

    Camille Arambourg and Yves Coppens

  • Discovery Location:

    Omo River, Omo Valley, Ethiopia

OMO 18-1967-18 is the type specimen for Paranthropus aethiopicus and was discovered in 1967 by a French team led by Camille Arambourg and Yves Coppens in the Omo River in Omo Valley, Ethiopia. It is a toothless, V-shaped mandible and dates to around 2.5 Ma. The team originally named the species Paraustralopithecus aethiopicus, and the discovery was originally ignored until the discovery of The Black Skull specimen (KNM-WT 17000)1.


KNM-WT 17000

  • Common Name:

    The Black Skull

  • Geologic Age:

    2.5 Ma

  • Discovery Date:

    29 Aug 1985

  • Discovered By:

    Alan C. Walker

  • Discovery Location:

    Lake Turkana, Kenya

  • Cranial Capacity:

    410 cc

  • Specimen Age:

    Adult

  • Sex:

    Undetermined

A high concentration of manganese in the soils surrounding the fossils known as KNM WT 17000 caused the specimen to appear black, resulting in the nick name "The Black Skull". First described by Walker et al. (1986), the adult cranium was originally classified as an early form of Paranthropus boisei, but its unique features supported the assignment of the specimen to a new species, Paranthropus aethiopicus. The current evidence indicates that P. aethiopicus was present in Africa from about 2.7 to 2.3 Ma. The Black Skull itself dates to 2.5 Ma1,2,3,4.