The strapping youth

The ‘Turkana Boy’ skeleton has allowed scientists to find out a lot of information about body size, body shape, and growth rates of Homo erectus. This skeleton is 40% complete, based on the principle that bones from one side of the body can tell what the same bone from the other side looked like even if it’s missing.

His pelvis shows he was male. His second molars had erupted, but not his third (the wisdom teeth), indicating he was not an adult. The microscopic structure of his teeth tells us how quickly his teeth grew – and thus his age: eight or nine years old. He was 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in) tall and weighed 48 kg (106 lb) when he died; if he had reached adulthood, he might have grown only a little bit taller. Turkana Boy’s cranial capacity at death was 880 cubic centimeters, but scientists estimate it would have reached 909 cubic centimeters if he had grown into adulthood. 

His vertebrae, which form the spine, were diseased, causing a subtle curvature and probably slow movement. This may have contributed to his death, although his cause of death at such a young age is unknown. Although he had a disability which hindered his movement, his body shows long legs and narrow shoulders typical of humans who live in hot, dry climate today. These long legs helped Homo erectus walk and possibly run long distances. Homo erectus is the first known species to spread widely within Africa and throughout Asia.