Footprint evidence of early hominin locomotor diversity at Laetoli, Tanzania

Ellison J. McNutt (), Kevin G. Hatala, Catherine Miller, James Adams, Jesse Casana, Andrew S. Deane, Nathaniel J. Dominy, Kallisti Fabian, Luke D. Fannin, Stephen Gaughan, Simone V. Gill, Josephat Gurtu, Ellie Gustafson, Austin C. Hill, Camille Johnson, Said Kallindo, Benjamin Kilham, Phoebe Kilham, Elizabeth Kim, Cynthia Liutkus-Pierce, Blaine Maley, Anjali Prabhat, John Reader, Shirley Rubin, Nathan E. Thompson, Rebeca Thornburg, Erin Marie Williams-Hatala, Brian Zimmer, Charles M. Musiba and Jeremy M. DeSilva
Additional contact information
Ellison J. McNutt: Ohio University Heritage College of Medicine
Kevin G. Hatala: Chatham University
Catherine Miller: Dartmouth College
James Adams: Dartmout College
Jesse Casana: Dartmouth College
Andrew S. Deane: Indiana University School of Medicine
Nathaniel J. Dominy: Dartmouth College
Kallisti Fabian: Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority
Luke D. Fannin: Dartmouth College
Stephen Gaughan: Dartmouth College
Simone V. Gill: Boston University
Josephat Gurtu: Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority
Ellie Gustafson: University of Colorado
Austin C. Hill: Dartmouth College
Camille Johnson: Dartmouth College
Said Kallindo: Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority
Benjamin Kilham: Kilham Bear Center
Phoebe Kilham: Kilham Bear Center
Elizabeth Kim: Department of Integrative Anatomical Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California
Cynthia Liutkus-Pierce: Appalachian State University
Blaine Maley: Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine
Anjali Prabhat: Dartmouth College
John Reader: University College London
Shirley Rubin: Napa Valley College
Nathan E. Thompson: Department of Anatomy, NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine
Rebeca Thornburg: University of Colorado
Erin Marie Williams-Hatala: Chatham University
Brian Zimmer: Appalachian State University
Charles M. Musiba: University of Colorado
Jeremy M. DeSilva: Dartmouth College

Nature, 2021, vol. 600, issue 7889, 468-471

Abstract: Abstract Bipedal trackways discovered in 1978 at Laetoli site G, Tanzania and dated to 3.66 million years ago are widely accepted as the oldest unequivocal evidence of obligate bipedalism in the human lineage1–3. Another trackway discovered two years earlier at nearby site A was partially excavated and attributed to a hominin, but curious affinities with bears (ursids) marginalized its importance to the paleoanthropological community, and the location of these footprints fell into obscurity3–5. In 2019, we located, excavated and cleaned the site A trackway, producing a digital archive using 3D photogrammetry and laser scanning. Here we compare the footprints at this site with those of American black bears, chimpanzees and humans, and we show that they resemble those of hominins more than ursids. In fact, the narrow step width corroborates the original interpretation of a small, cross-stepping bipedal hominin. However, the inferred foot proportions, gait parameters and 3D morphologies of footprints at site A are readily distinguished from those at site G, indicating that a minimum of two hominin taxa with different feet and gaits coexisted at Laetoli.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04187-7

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