Google Honours Turkana Boy Found 37 Years Ago

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Google Honours Turkana Boy Found 37 Years Ago
Google Honours Turkana Boy Found 37 Years Ago

Africa-PressKenya. Giant technology company, Google, on Sunday, August 1, used a Doodle to commemorate the discovery of a complete human skeleton of a youth known as Turkana Boy who is believed to have lived 1.6 million years ago.

Doodle is a special, temporal alteration of the logo on Google’s homepages intended to honour holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures of particular countries.

Turkana Boy also known as Nariokotome Boy, is a fossil that allowed scientists to make groundbreaking discoveries about the Homo Erectus species such as body size, shape, and growth of the species.

The fossil was discovered by paleontologist Kamoya Kimeu at Nariokotome, West Turkana on August 1, 1984.

The remains are currently preserved in Nairobi at the National Museums of Kenya with a replica of the skeleton engraved at Nariokotome.

Kimeu is highly accoladed as one of the most successful fossil finders in the 1980s with the discovery of Turkana Boy cementing his legacy.

Kimeu, due to his achievements, was recently feted with an honorary P.h.D. degree from the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) of Ohio, USA.

“This honorary doctorate from CWRU means the world to me, and ranks alongside the National Geographic Society’s La Gorce medal I received from President Ronald Reagan in 1985,” Kimeu stated during his acceptance speech at the online event.

The La Gorce medal is one of the highest awards from the National Geographic Society. It is reported that Kimeu received a full paid trip to the USA for the ceremony alongside a Ksh1 million prize money.

Memorable events or persons commemorated by Google Doodle include Kenya Independence day on December 12, 2020, Mekatilili wa Menza on August 9, 2020.

Others include the late Professor Wangari Maathai on April 1, 2013, and the late Kimani Maruge’s first day of school (Maruge held the record for being the oldest person to begin primary school aged 84 years.)

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