So troublesome was the skull that famed paleo-anthropologist Richard Leakey, the leader of the team that discovered it, once told reporters: “Either we toss out this skull or we toss out our theories of early man. It simply fits no models of human beginnings.”
Impossible face
Bromage said the original reconstruction relied on preconceptions about how early humans looked that are now known to be incorrect. The result, he said, was a skull that shared several features in common with modern humans, including a relatively flat face and a large brain case.
In the original KNM-ER 1470 reconstruction, this angle was between 60 and 75 degrees, Bromage said. It was absolutely incompatible with life, he said. The jaw would have been positioned so far back in the skull that there would have been no room for an airway or esophagus. It couldnt breathe or eat.
Martin also disputes the claim that H. rudolfensis large cranial capacity made it stand out among ancient hominids. Martin points out that a 1.6 million-year-old Homo erectus skeleton known as Turkana Boy had a cranial capacity of about 900 cc.At 1.9, youve got [H. rudolfensis] with [a cranial capacity] of 750 cc, and at 1.6 youve got 900 cc. I dont have a problem with that, Martin said.
If confirmed, KNM-ER1470s new cranial capacity would be comparable to that of H. habilis. Now its no longer an outlier, Bromage said. Its just part of the gang.