Person Walker; Alan (1938 - 2017) Walker Alan 1938 - 2017 British Male 23/08/1938 19380823 20/11/2017 20171120

Career: Professor of Anthropology and Biology, Pennsylvania State University, USA Alan Walker was a paleoanthropologist who studied primate and human evolution through fossilised evidence. In 1985, Alan discovered the Black Skull; near Lake Turkana in Kenya, a nearly intact fossilised cranium of an early human that has greatly influenced our understanding of the human evolutionary tree. The Black Skull is named after its dark colouration, acquired due to resting in manganese-rich soil. Around 2.5 million years old, it belongs to an adult extinct hominin called Paranthropus aethiopicus; a subspecies on the human-primate evolutionary tree. Alan's discovery suggests that this subspecies is, in fact, part of a distinctly divergent evolutionary branch from that of the Homo (human) lineage. Alan was also part of the team led by Richard Leakey who, in 1984, located the so-called Turkana Boy fossil (now known as Nariokotome Boy). This specimen is a nearly complete skeleton of a male hominid who died about 1.5 million years ago and is the most complete skeleton of an early human ever found. Professor Alan Walker died on 20 November 2017. Fellow 13/05/1999 60 International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 23 Aug 1938 - 20 nov 2017 NA2368 21/11/2001 Andyg Pmab 28/03/2023 RS_NET\JonathanB Yes http://viaf.org/viaf/107592860 d48e2efa-d02e-420b-8c36-ab47303cf1be