Meave Leakey

Meave G. Leakey (born M. Epps on 28 July 1942 in London, England) is together with her husband Richard Leakey one of the most renowned contemporary paleontologists. She studies the origin of mankind in Africa.

Flat-Faced Man of Kenya

Dr. Leakey's research team at Lake Turkana, Kenya made a discovery in 1999 that completely changed our understanding of early human ancestry. They found a 3.5 million-year-old skull and partial jaw thought to belong to a new branch of our early human family. She named the find Kenyanthropus platyops, or flat-faced man of Kenya.

Personal life

Meave Leakey is married to Richard Leakey, a famous paleontologist. They have two children, Louise (born 1972) and Samira (born 1974). Her daughter Louise Leakey continues family traditions by conducting paleontological research.

Publications by Dr. Leakey

• Rene Bob & Meave G. Leakey (2009), "Ecology of Plio-Pliestocene Mammals in the Omo-Turkana Basin and the Emergence of Homo", in Frederick E. Gine, John G. Fleagle, & Richard E. Leakey (editors), The First Humans: Origin and Early Evolution of the Genus Homo, Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology, Conference publication: Springer, pp. 175–184, ISBN 978-1-4020-9979-3, http://books.google.com.au/books?id=ITp_RnsPfzQC&pg=PA173&lpg=PA173&dq=%22M.G.+Leakey%22+meave&source=bl&ots=dh68kq0y-E&sig=PmpCIe2o6hWesaBuvjtNLwDiDsY&hl=en&ei=QXHbS5z2BpHm7APnhc2uBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22M.G.%20Leakey%22%20meave&f=false, retrieved 30 April 2010 
• Lothagam: The Dawn of Humanity in Eastern Africa by John Harris and Meave Leakey, Eds. (December 2001).
• Leakey, Meave; Walker, Alan (June 1997), "Early Hominid Fossils from Africa", Scientific American 276 (6): 74–79 
• Stratigraphy and Paleontology of Pliocene and Pleistocene Localities West of Lake Turkana, Kenya by John Harris, Meave Leakey, Eds. et al. (October 1988).
• Harris, J.M; Brown, F.H; Leakey, M.G; Walker, A.C; Leakey, R.E (1 January 1989), "Pliocene and Pleistocene Hominid-Bearing Sites from West of Lake Turkana, Kenya", Science 239 (4835): 27–33, doi:10.1126/science.239.4835.27 
• M.G. Leakey, R.E. Leakey, J.M. Harris (editors) (1978), Koobi Fora Research Project: Researches into Geology, Palaeontology, and Human Origins, Volume 1: The Fossil Hominids and an Introduction to their Context 1968-1974, Clarendon Press, ISBN 978-0198573920 

See also

• Meave (Irish name)
• List of fossil sites (with link directory)
• List of hominina (hominid) fossils (with images)

The Leakey family

External links

• Leakey Foundation
• Koobi Fora Research Project
• Dr. Meave Leakey Discusses Kenyanthropus platyops