By Sandra Oldt-Uvey
Associated Press

Above: The skull of a. grotesqueus.

Lake Turkana, Kenya, Dec. 6 - Anthropologists at the southeast side of Lake Turkana in Kenya unearthed the latest piece in the gargoyle game this Saturday. Anthropologists working under the direction of the Museum of Jurassic Technology uncovered the 70% complete skeleton of a species dated to about 4.1-3.9 million years ago. The species has what seem to be the archaic precursors to features displayed by homo gargolis, excavated earlier this summer.

Tentatively designated austrolopithicus grotesqueus, the skeleton shows elements of what would prove later to be keys features of h. gargolis, namely an unusually extended face, reduced nose, splayed toes, and evidence of horns.

The size of a. grotesqueus' brain is considerably smaller than h. gargolis, 450 cc's, slighty larger than that of other later austrolopitcene species like a. afarensis (420 cc's). Its teeth are considerably more primitive, and its jaw much heavier. It very likely only occasionally walked on two legs, as evidenced by its non-locking knee structure and light ankles.

Dr. Reginald Cornwallis of the Museum of Jurassic Technology described his feelings as a mix of relief and trepidation. "This should quiet some of the debate about the aberrance of homo gargolis, and for that I'm glad. This find would indicate that Gargoyle Man's split from the line that produced modern humans happened long ago, and that would account for the multitude of variances in his morphology. But still, when exactly did the split occur? We now have an entirely different kind of "missing link" to consider. And where h. gargolis was seemingly separated entirely from teh rest of the hominids of his period, a. grotesqueus was very likely co-habiting the region with a. anamensis."

When asked about the relevant importance of the find compared to h. gargolis, Dr. Cornwallis had one thing to say: "We'll probably end up calling today 'Black Wednesday'," he joked.

Associated Press
6 December 2000

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