OH 5 (Zinj or nutcracker man)

OH 5 (aka Zinjanthropus or "Nutcracker Man") is a cranium and the holotype of the species Paranthropus boisei. It was discovered in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania by Mary Leakey in 1959. Her husband and Louis Leakey initially classified the hominid as Zinjanthropus boisei and thought that it was an early ancestor of modern humans that lived approximately 2 million years ago. However, this contention was later withdrawn because of its robust australopithecine features and the discovery of Homo habilis soon after.

For more information, click here. Or, Try these sources:

• Leakey, Louis (August 1959). "A new fossil skull from Olduvai". Nature. 184 (4685): 491–493.

• Leakey, Louis (January 1960). "The Newest Link in Human Evolution: The Discovery by L.S.B. Leakey of Zinjanthropus Boisei". Current Anthropology.

• Boaz, Noel (1998). Quarry Closing In On the Missing Link. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-86378-2.

• Leakey, Mary (1965). Olduvai Gorge. 3: Excavations in Beds I & II, 1960–1963. London: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-07723-0.