KNM ER 3883 is the catalogue number of a fossilized skull (nearly complete cranium) of the species ''
Homo ergaster
''Homo ergaster'' is an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Africa in the Early Pleistocene. Whether ''H. ergaster'' constitutes a species of its own or should be subsumed into '' H. erectus'' is an ongoing and unresol ...
'' (alternatively referred to as African ''
Homo erectus''). The fossil was discovered by
Richard Leakey
Richard Erskine Frere Leakey (19 December 1944 – 2 January 2022) was a Kenyan paleoanthropologist, conservationist and politician. Leakey held a number of official positions in Kenya, mostly in institutions of archaeology and wildlife conse ...
in 1976 in
Koobi Fora
Koobi Fora refers primarily to a region around Koobi Fora Ridge, located on the eastern shore of Lake Turkana in the territory of the nomadic Gabbra people. According to the National Museums of Kenya, the name comes from the Gabbra language:
...
, east of Lake Turkana (formerly lake Rudolf),
Kenya
)
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.
Observations
Most of the facial skeleton of the fossil is missing. Only the
Neurocranium
In human anatomy, the neurocranium, also known as the braincase, brainpan, or brain-pan is the upper and back part of the skull, which forms a protective case around the brain. In the human skull, the neurocranium includes the calvaria or skul ...
is in a fairly complete state. Researchers have calculated that the fossil is about 1.6 million years old and likely represents a male.
KNM ER 3883 is a more robust and a little larger than
KNM ER 3733.
The cranium is long and low and it has postorbital construction. It has a large face and
zygomatic bone
In the human skull, the zygomatic bone (from grc, ζῠγόν, zugón, yoke), also called cheekbone or malar bone, is a paired irregular bone which articulates with the maxilla, the temporal bone, the sphenoid bone and the frontal bone. It is s ...
.
It shows a cranial capacity greater than any previous hominid capacity which is estimated at 804 ml.
References
{{Reflist, 2
Homo erectus fossils