East Turkana, Kenya (2010-present)
Dr. kevin Hatala standing next to a 1.5 Ma hominin footprint in East turkana, kenya.
Research in East Turkana, Kenya has involved the discovery and excavation of more than 20 distinct fossil footprint sites dating to approximately 1.5 million years ago (Ma). Seven of these sites preserve footprints of fossil hominins (presumably Homo erectus), and from these we have gained critical insights regarding hominin anatomy and locomotion, as well as social behavior. Further, the footprints of other animals have provided us with snapshots of hominin environments at 1.5 Ma. This has been an ongoing project since 2010, and involves a variety of collaborations including with researchers from the National Museums of Kenya, The George Washington University, the Smithsonian Institution, Harvard University, and other institutions. Dr. Hatala’s fieldwork in this area has been funded by grants from the National Science Foundation (BCS-0924476, -1128170, -1232522, -1515054, DGE-0801634, SMA-1409612), the Leakey Foundation, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation.
Recent grants:
2024-2029: “CAREER: Tracking the evolution of human locomotion through field, experimental, and computational analyses of fossil footprints.” National Science Foundation (PI: KG Hatala)
Selected publications:
Hatala KG, Roach NT, Ostrofsky KR, Wunderlich RE, Dingwall HL, Villmoare BA, Green DJ, Braun DR, Harris JWK, Behrensmeyer AK, Richmond BG. (2017) Hominin track assemblages from Okote Member deposits near Ileret, Kenya and their implications for understanding fossil hominin paleobiology at 1.5 Ma. Journal of Human Evolution 112, 93-104.
Hatala KG, Roach NT, Ostrofsky K, Wunderlich RE, Dingwall HL, Villmoare BA, Green DJ, Harris JWK, Braun DR, Richmond BG. (2016) Footprints preserve direct evidence of group behavior and locomotion in Homo erectus. Scientific Reports 6, 28766.
West Turkana, Kenya (2018-present)
Dr. Kevin Hatala and colleagues surveying for fossils and footprints in west turkana, kenya. Clockwise, from left are Dr. Hatala, sammy lokorodit, francis ngasike, stephen longoria, and matthew macharwas.
Our latest field project is located in West Turkana, Kenya and launched in 2018. We are working to recover fossil footprints and skeletal fossils dating to 1.5 million years ago (Ma), the same temporal range that we have researched extensively in East Turkana (see below). The same hominin species (Paranthropus boisei and Homo erectus) are known from both East and West Turkana at this time period, but it has been thought that environmental conditions of these two regions were quite different. However, the fossil record from West Turkana is much more sparse. We intend to recover both skeletal fossil and fossil footprint data from West Turkana, and use these data to better understand potential differences in hominin paleoenvironments and/or land use patterns across the Turkana Basin at this time period. This project is a collaboration with Dr. Neil Roach (Harvard University), Dr. Kay Behrensmeyer (Smithsonian Institution), and Dr. Fredrick K. Manthi (National Museums of Kenya). Our recent work on this project has been funded by the Leakey Foundation.
Recent grants:
2018-2019: “Paleoecological investigation of 1.5 Ma footprint sites near Nariokotome, Kenya.” Leakey Foundation (PI: KG Hatala, co-PIs: NT Roach, AK Behrensmeyer)
Selected publications:
Hatala KG, Roach NT, Behrensmeyer AK, Manthi FK. (2019) Combining ichnological and skeletal fossil data from East and West Turkana to increase understanding of Turkana Basin mammal communities at ~1.5 Ma. Biennial Meeting of the East African Association of Palaeoanthropology and Palaeontology, Nairobi, Kenya.
Engare Sero, Tanzania (2010-2012)
Dr. Hatala has been involved in the excavation and analysis of late Pleistocene to Holocene human footprints at Engare Sero, Tanzania since 2010. The site preserves more than 400 hominin footprints dated to between 19 and 5 thousand years ago. In addition to the typical insights related to anatomy and locomotion, the scale of this assemblage allows for a fascinating glimpse into the structure and behavior of the large group of humans who passed through this area thousands of years ago. While excavations of the site ceased in 2012, analyses are still ongoing. The project involves collaborations with the Tanzania Department of Antiquities, and researchers from Appalachian State University, the Smithsonian Institution, Lehman College, and other institutions. Dr. Hatala’s work at the site has been supported by the National Science Foundation (DGE-0801634) and the Evolving Earth Foundation.
Tour the site and explore interactive materials from the Smithsonian 3D Digitization Program here.
Selected publications:
Hatala KG, Harcourt-Smith WEH, Gordon AD, Zimmer BW, Richmond BG, Pobiner BL, Green DJ, Metallo A, Rossi V, Liutkus-Pierce CM. (2020) Snapshots of human anatomy, locomotion, and behavior from Late Pleistocene footprints at Engare Sero, Tanzania. Scientific Reports 10, 7740.
Liutkus-Pierce CM, Zimmer BW, Carmichael SK, McIntosh W, Deino A, Hewitt SM, McGinnis KJ, Brett J, Mana S, Deocampo D, Richmond BG, Hatala KG, Harcourt-Smith WEH, Pobiner BL, Metallo A, Rossi V. (2016) Radioisotopic age, formation, and preservation of late Pleistocene Homo sapiens footprints at Engare Sero, Tanzania. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 463, 68-82.
engare sero, tanzania fossil footprint site, in the shadow of ol doinyo lengai volcano.