Footprints in the Ash Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mary Leakey

Mary Leakey was the wife of the famous paleoanthropologist Louis S.B. Leakey, and they worked together for most of her career in the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. Her accomplishments were many: she worked out a way to classify the stone tools that were found at the Olduvai site, and helped to excavate the site; she discovered the hominid footprint trail; altogether she discovered 15 new species of other animals, and one new genus; after her husband's death in 1972 she became the director of the Olduvai excavation; and she trained her son, Richard, to become a paleoanthropologist as well.

Answer: Laetoli, Tanzania

The site of the Laetoli footprints is approximately 45 km south of the Olduvai Gorge. A man named Sanimu first persuaded Louis Leakey to explore the site in 1935 and Ludwig Kohl-Larsen studied the area in 1938-39. During that time, many hominid remains, especially teeth, were found; subsequent excavations revealed no new hominid fossils, and people lost interest.

It wasn't until 1974 that new discoveries began to redirect paleoanthropologists to the area.

Answer: 3.8 million years

The fossilized footprints date back to the Plio-Pleistocene geological era. The climate was cooling down a bit during this time, and the area that had been covered in forests was turning to grassland. Some believe that the climate change encouraged hominids to come down from the trees and out into the open; an erect posture made it easier to spot predators, and also freed the hands for the use of some sort of tool.

Answer: Australopithecus afarensis

Many scientists agree that the footprints were made by "Australopithecus afarensis". If that is indeed the case, the individuals may have been relatives of the famous Lucy and First Family discovered in the 1970s! Typically hominids from this species are viewed as small-brained vegetarians but a recent discovery may prove that these hominids used tools to scrape meat from bones.

Their social structure was likely similar that that of modern apes; in other words, their groups probably consisted of a dominant male and a few breeding females.

Answer: Stratigraphy

Stratigraphy is a dating technique generally used when studying layered volcanic and sedimentary rock. When used in conjunction with dating fossils, it is usually called paleontologic stratigraphy or biostratigraphy. This science was based on the principle of faunal succession (both fossilized flora and fauna that existed at the same time will always been found in the same rock strata) as set forth by William Smith, an English geologist who known as the Father of English Geology.

Answer: Bipedalism

Until the discovery of the fossilized footprints, scientists were not sure which came first - bipedalism or increased brain size. The footprints show that bipedalism came before large brains in hominids. At the time of discovery, the footprints were the oldest known evidence of hominid bipedalism. Recent evidence found with the discovery of "Ardipithecus ramidus" suggests that bipedalism may be as old as 4.4 million years.

Answer: 3

Again, the evidence has been highly debated, but it is believed that a group of three people made the footprints. In a line that is 80 feet long, the last two individuals each walked in the prints of the first. For that reason, it was difficult to find the original tracks. All of the tracks led in the same direction. One of the common assumptions is that the individuals might have been a nuclear family; people even go as far as to say that by the strike of one of the prints, it appears that one of the individuals was carrying a baby. Of course, there is no evidence to support this.

Answer: True

Before you are alarmed by the types of animals that these hominids faced, let me assure you that the print in the picture is a fossilized dinosaur footprint, and they were extinct quite a long time before hominids existed! The other prints found at the site include animals that one would except to see in the African savannah today: rhinos, antelopes, baboons, and giraffes, to name a few.

Their footprints were not as well preserved; skeletal remains in the area attest to their presence.

Answer: No

No artifacts have been found in the same strata as the fossilized footprints, however, some have been found in earlier layers. Again, the ability of hominids to use tools is a highly debated topic. Recent discoveries indicate that it might have been possible for the individuals who made the footprints to be primitive tool-users, with an emphasis on the word "primitive".

Answer: They were reburied.

After the footprints were studied, they were reburied, something that rarely is done. Soon after, trees began to take root and grow in the area, and there was concern that these roots might damage the fossilized prints. Upon inspection it was found that in some areas the prints were damaged, but in others the prints were perfectly preserved.

Some updates to the site in the 1990s have helped to prevent erosion and further root damage. There has been discussion about removing the trackway to a enclosed location.

However, the cost of doing so seems to outweigh the benefit.