Richard Leakey: the leader of the Hominid Gang asks what he can do for his continent.(Smithsonian magazine's 35 who made a difference)(Biography)

Publication: Smithsonian

Publication Date: 01-NOV-05

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AS A CHILD, Richard Leakey spent many hours--too many, in his opinion--broiling in the sunbaked hills of western Kenya while his famous parents, Louis and Mary, picked away at fossils. "I'm afraid I was a whiny child," he says. After one "I'm tired, I'm bored" lament, his exasperated father shouted, "Go and find your own bone!" The young Leakey did exactly that, of course, and discovered a satisfyingly large jawbone--the beginning of what would be the most complete remains of a certain species of extinct pig then known. Richard Leakey was 6.

"My parents took over the excavation as soon as they saw what I had," he recalls. But he later led numerous...

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