Sheldon Cohen Anthropologists announced this week a remarkable find—the first hand bones of Paranthropus boisei, the mighty nutcracker man. If confirmed, this finding would indicate a capacity for tool use by this species. In 2019, researchers found these tiny curved hand bones around Lake Turkana in Kenya. At between 1.52-1.53 million years, they are the oldest known hand fossils of P. boisei. Together, the findings upend traditional beliefs that the species had no social structure, hunting skills or tool-use ability.
What’s new is that until now, researchers have not explicitly associated P. boisei with tool-making. They assumed that its anatomical characteristics render it unsuitable for such intricate behaviors. Based on the special shape of its hand bones, it actually was. The recent study, out now in the journal Nature, underlines how unusual the architecture of these bones is. This structure would have allowed for a precision grip comparable to that of modern humans. More importantly, this new discovery has the potential to change the way that researchers think about the cognitive and behavioral adaptations of ancient hominins.
A New Understanding of P. Boisei
Dr. Carrie Mongle, a leading researcher on the project, expressed her enthusiasm about the findings:
“It represents a turning point in our behavioural and cognitive complexity.”
Dr Mongle thinks that the long finger proportions and broad thumb of P. boisei indicate that this species was capable of forming a precision grip. These anatomical features emphasize the potential agility of P. boisei. This ability may well have allowed them to manipulate a variety of objects—possibly even using tools.
Prior to this 2019 find, researchers had only located P. boisei skull fragments from a smattering of other sites across Africa. This created a huge hole in their knowledge of the species’ physical prowess. Even more important, these new hand bones fill a crucial gap on our understanding. They further propose that P. boisei possessed a degree of dexterity similar to that of modern humans.
Michael Petraglia, an anthropologist who has closely studied P. boisei, pointed out the significance of this discovery within the broader context of human evolution:
“These authors are showing the hand morphology of Paranthropus was slightly different than what we see in the genus Homo, but nevertheless potentially a tool user as well.”
Implications for Tool Use
The consequences of this finding reach farther than P. boisei itself. Scientists now propose that this primitive creature could have been quite the tool user. This possibility raises the exciting prospect that more than one species of hominin might have coexisted as toolmakers at the same time. Andy Herries, another researcher involved in the study, noted:
“If we’ve got multiple toolmakers on the landscape at the same time, perhaps they’re making different things.”
Herries insists, even with these incredible findings, we still have a lot to learn about P. boisei. He remarked on the absence of a well-articulated skeleton from this species in the fossil record:
“The one thing that’s really missing from the record is a good articulated Paranthropus skeleton. That would be great to find.”
Researchers are just beginning to understand the behavioral patterns of P. boisei. The scant skeletal evidence does uncover some alarming gaps in our knowledge.
Future Research Directions
The prospect of future research on P. boisei certainly seems promising! With new techniques at hand, scientists are excited to learn more about this captivating species. Dr. Mongle expressed a desire to employ CT scans to investigate the internal structures of the newly discovered bones:
“I would love to use CT scans to study the internal structure of these bones to learn more about how exactly Paranthropus boisei was using its hands.”
Even now, as researchers develop their ideas and research, they are deeply cognizant of these ongoing discussions concerning tool use and the evolution of early hominins. Michael Petraglia highlighted that:
“There’s still debate about the evolution of the hand and tool use, but this is an important piece of that.”
Furthermore, while the findings provide compelling evidence for potential tool use, researchers acknowledge that more concrete evidence, such as actual stone tools associated with P. boisei, would significantly enhance their understanding:
“I wish there were stone tools because that really would be much more of a smoking gun.” – Michael Petraglia
