Richard Leakey, the paleoanthropologist and fossil hunter who discovered the first human skulls in Africa, died on Sunday. He died at the age of 77.
The cause of Mr. Leakey's death was not specified in the statement by the President. Prof. Lawrence Martin said that Mr. Leakey died at his home.
Mr. Leakey wanted to avoid his parents field. He found work as a guide, but eventually died of fossil disease.
He might have changed his mind when he looked down over the rocky shores of Lake Turkana in Africa and saw a lot of fossils.
The world's understanding of human evolution would be changed by the fossils that Mr. Leakey and his "Hominid Gang" found there.
He helped uncover the skeleton of a young male Homo erectus in 1984. In 1972, a skull called "1470" was found that extended the world's knowledge of the Homo erectus species several million years deeper into the past.
He was a mentor to dozens of Africans in diverse fields and had played a key role in shaping the world's view on Africa's place in the human evolution story.
He was important for exploring new ground and finding fossils, but also for creating an entire scientific, interdisciplinary infrastructure that enabled discoveries and established a new model for scientific research, said Prof. John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
He was on the cover of Time magazine in 1977. He starred in a 1981 show on the British Broadcasting Corporation called "The Making of Mankind." He also wrote a book about it.
Mr. Leakey went from fossil hunter to political candidate. The director of the National Museums of Kenya, the chairman of the board for the Kenya Wildlife Service, and the head of public service were some of the roles he played.
Professor Martin said that Mr. Leakey had an impact in so many different areas.
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Mr. Leakey and the President of the country of Kenya together with over 100 metric tons of ivory and rhino horns were seized in 2016 at the national park. The ivory was set afire to show the world that the country was serious about ending the trade.
Mr. Leakey had a fiery personality. He drew international attention in 1989 when he helped to burn the country's ivory stock. The process was repeated again.
His discoveries were almost as amazing as his ability to survive. He fractured his skull as a boy, almost died after receiving a transplant from his brother, he lost both legs in a plane crash, and he was 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217
The second of Louis and Mary's three sons was born on December 19, 1944 in Nairobi. He once said that he would never describe it as a close family. He recalled that anthropology always took precedence over a family life.
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Mark Rucker/ Transcendental Graphics, Jens Schwarz/laif, and Fred R. Conrad/ The New York Times are all pictured.
This year, many people died, including Hank Aaron, Colin Powell, Stephen Sondheim, Beverly Cleary, DMX, Larry King, and many others.
He was determined not to be an anthropologist, but the field found him anyway. He said in an interview that he found the jaw of an extinct pig when he was a child.
He said that he was angry that the bone was taken away because it was too important for a young child to dig up.
He wanted to study anthropology in London but ran out of money, so he returned to Africa to learn the subject firsthand. He had more experience in the field than most graduate anthropologists.
Mr. Leakey became a sought-after lecturer after becoming famous as a fossil hunter. His talks drew large crowds of both students and scholars.
He liked to say that he had never been to a university.
His survivors include his wife Meave, a renowned paleoanthropologist, and his daughters Louise and Samira. Professor Martin said that he has three grandchildren.
Mr. Leakey believed that the past was the key to the future and that his father had written about it. He was a paleoanthropology historian and he said that the two disciplines were intertwined.
Mr. Leakey had a dream of building a museum of humankind. The site of one of his most famous discoveries, the Turkana Boy, is in the Rift Valley.
Mr. Leakey said in a statement that the museum is a call to action. We are reminded of our mortality as a species when we look through the fossil record, as many of the long extinct species thrived far longer than the human species is ever likely to do.
