Photograph by Mike Hettwer
Photograph by Kenneth Garrett
Paleontologists and mother-daughter team Meave and Louise Leakey have made significant contributions to our understanding of human origins, continuing the legacy begun in 1931 by Louis S. B. Leakey with his discoveries of ancient fossils in Tanzania's Olduvai Gorge. Over the years the Leakey family members—Louis, Mary, Richard, Meave, and Louise—have received numerous National Geographic research grants.
After completing her first degree at the University of North Wales, Meave came to Kenya to work for Dr. Louis Leakey at his primate research center near Nairobi. At the same time she collected data for her doctoral dissertation, which she completed in 1968.
In 1969, at the invitation of Richard Leakey, Meave joined a field expedition to the paleontological site of Koobi Fora on the eastern shores of Kenya's Lake Turkana. This launched her long-term work on the Turkana Basin research project. Meave has worked at the National Museums of Kenya since 1969 and was head of the division of paleontology from 1982 to 2001. In 1989 she became coordinator of the museums' field research in the Turkana Basin. Her work at nearby Kanapoi in 1994 yielded some of the earliest hominids known, dated at more than four million years.
Louise Leakey was only six weeks old when she joined her parents at the family research camp in the Turkana Basin. She spent much of her youth on field expeditions, developing a passion for paleontology. Louise went on to receive a B.S. in geology and biology at the University of Bristol, and a Ph.D. at University College, London.
The Leakeys currently run a research station at Lake Turkana to facilitate data collection and the study of new specimens. Their ongoing annual expeditions to this area continue to recover important hominid and faunal remains. In 1999, on a National Geographic-sponsored expedition to the Turkana Basin, Meave and Louise uncovered a 3.5-million-year-old skull and partial jaw believed to belong to a new branch of early human named Kenyanthropus platyops. This remarkable discovery, announced in the journal Nature, has profound implications in understanding the origins of mankind.
Latest Explorer News
- Young Explorer Films Violent Monkey Takeover
- Talking with Texts: How Cellphones Empower Deaf Children in Uganda
- Celebrated Filmmakers Killed in Australian Helicopter Crash
- Help Put Pluto On Postage!
- Follow Carlton Ward’s 1,000-Mile Trek Through Florida
- The Cellphone that Keeps the Water, and Data, Flowing
- Video: Ranchers Who Opposed the Keystone XL Pipeline Path
- “After the Gas Rush” Part 2
- “After the Gas Rush” Part 1
- Wade Davis: “Into the Silence”
Follow @louiseleakey on Twitter
News
-
Photos: Kenyan Fossils May Add New Branch to Human Family Tree
A pair of fossils recently discovered in Kenya is challenging the straight-line story of human evolution. Traditional evolutionary theories of the genus Homo suggest a successive progression: Homo habilis gave rise to Homo erectus, which then begat modern humans, Homo sapiens.
Kids
-
Nat Geo E-Team
What are the Leakeys and the rest of the National Geographic Explorers up to? Meet the E-Team and learn about their projects in this interactive mural.
In Their Words
If you have differences of opinion it stimulates others to do more research and come up with an answer in the end. It's not a bad thing at all. It's a very good thing.
—Meave Leakey
Advertisement
Videos
-
Meave Leakey
NG Explorer-in-Residence Meave Leakey talks about an amazing discovery of a human fossil.
Photos
-
Leakey Galleries
View photos from years of Leakey family research and discoveries.
Audio
-
00:06:45 Meave Leakey
Our Explorers in Action
-
Famous Women Explorers
Meet female explorers who have pushed the limits in adventure, science, and more.
Support National Geographic
Our critical work in research, conservation, exploration, and education is possible thanks to the generosity of people like you. Your gift of any size is greatly appreciated.
About Our Explorers
-
Sign Up Now
Stay in the know with updates about the exciting work of our explorers with our newsletter.
-
Explorers A-Z
At the heart of our explorers program is the quest for knowledge through exploration and the people who make it possible.
