Editing Kenyanthropus (section)

===Classification===
In 2001, Meave Leakey and colleagues assigned the Lomekwi remains to a new genus and species, ''Kenyanthropus platyops'', with KNM-WT 40000 the [[holotype]], and KNM-WT 38350 a [[paratype]].  The genus name honours Kenya where Lomekwi and a slew of other major human-ancestor sites have been identified. The species name derives from [[Ancient Greek]] ''platus'' "flat" and ''opsis'' "face" in reference to the unusually flat face for such an early hominin.<ref name=":0"/>

The classification of early hominins with their widely varying anatomy has been a difficult subject matter. The 20th century generated an overabundance of hominin genera plunging the field into taxonomic turmoil, until German evolutionary biologist [[Ernst Mayr]], surveying a "bewildering diversity of names", decided to recognise only a single genus, ''Homo'', containing a few species. Though other genera and species have since become popular, his more conservative view of hominin diversity has become the mainstay, and the acceptance of further genera is usually met with great resistance.<ref name=Tattersall2017/> Since Mayr, hominins are classified into ''[[Australopithecus]]'' which gave rise to ''[[Homo]]'' (which includes modern humans) and the robust ''[[Paranthropus]]'' (which is sometimes not recognised as its own genus), which by definition leaves ''Australopithecus'' [[polyphyletic]] (a non-natural group which does not comprise a common ancestor and all of its descendants). In addition to ''Kenyanthropus'', the 1990s saw the introduction of ''[[Australopithecus bahrelghazali|A. bahrelghazali]]'', ''[[Ardipithecus]]'', ''[[Orrorin]]'', and ''[[Sahelanthropus]]'', which has complicated discussions of hominin diversity,<ref name=Conde2003/> though the latter three have not been met with much resistance on account of their greater age (all predating ''Australopithecus'').<ref name=Tattersall2017/>

At the time ''Kenyanthropus'' was discovered, ''[[Australopithecus afarensis]]'' was the only recognised australopithecine to have existed between 4 and 3 million years ago, aside from its probable ancestor ''[[Australopithecus anamensis|A. anamensis]]'', making ''A. afarensis'' the likely progenitor of all other australopithecines as they [[adaptive radiation|diversified]] in the late Pliocene and into the [[Pleistocene]]. Leakey and colleagues considered ''Kenyanthropus'' to be evidence of a greater diversity of Pliocene australopithecines than previously acknowledged.<ref name=":0"/> In 2015, Ethiopian palaeoanthropologist [[Yohannes Haile-Selassie]] and colleagues erected a new species, ''[[Australopithecus deyiremeda|A. deyiremeda]]'', which lived in the same time and region as ''Kenyanthropus'' and ''A. afarensis''.<ref name=Haile2015>{{Cite journal |url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v521/n7553/extref/nature14448-s1.pdf |doi=10.1038/nature14448|pmid=26017448|title=New species from Ethiopia further expands Middle Pliocene hominin diversity|journal=Nature|volume=521|issue=7553|pages=483–488|year=2015|last1=Haile-Selassie|first1=Yohannes|last2=Gibert|first2=Luis|last3=Melillo|first3=Stephanie M.|last4=Ryan|first4=Timothy M.|last5=Alene|first5=Mulugeta|last6=Deino|first6=Alan|last7=Levin|first7=Naomi E.|last8=Scott|first8=Gary|last9=Saylor|first9=Beverly Z.|bibcode=2015Natur.521..483H|s2cid=4455029}}</ref>

[[File:KNM ER 1470 (H. rudolfensis).png|thumb|Reconstruction of ''[[Homo rudolfensis|H. rudolfensis]]'' KNM-ER 1470, which resembles ''Kenyanthropus'' KNM-WT 40000<ref name=":0"/>]]
Meave Leakey and colleagues drew attention to namely the flat face and small [[cheek teeth]], in addition to several other traits, to distinguish the genus from earlier ''[[Ardipithecus]]'', contemporary and later ''[[Australopithecus]]'', and later ''Paranthropus''. ''Kenyanthropus'' lacks any of the derived traits seen in ''Homo''. They conceded ''Kenyanthropus'' could be subsumed into ''Australopithecus'' if the widest definition of the latter is used, but this conservative approach to hominin diversity leaves ''Australopithecus'' a [[evolutionary grade|grade taxon]], a non-natural grouping of similar-looking species whereby it effectively encompasses all hominins not classifiable into ''Ardipithecus'' or ''Homo'' regardless of how they may be related to each other.<ref name=":0"/> Leakey and colleagues further drew parallels with KNM-WT 40000 and the 2 million year old KNM-ER 1470 assigned to ''[[Homo rudolfensis]]'', attributing differences in [[braincase]] and [[nasal bones|nasal]] anatomy to archaicness. They suggested ''H. rudolfensis'' may be better classified as ''K. rudolfensis''.<ref name=":0"/>

In 2003, American palaeoanthropologist [[Tim D. White]] was concerned that KNM-WT 40000 was far too distorted to obtain any accurate metrics for classification purposes, especially because the skull was splintered into over 1,100 pieces often measuring less than {{cvt|1|cm}} across. Because such damage is rarely even seen, he argues that it cannot be reliably reconstructed. Because the skulls of modern ape species vary widely, he suggested further fossil discoveries in the region may prove the Lomekwi hominins to be a local variant of ''A. afarensis'' rather than a distinct genus or species.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=White|first1=T.|year=2003|title=Early Hominids - Diversity or Distortion?.|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|volume=299|issue=5615|pages=1994–1997|doi=10.1126/science.1078294|pmid=12663903|s2cid=83973951}}</ref> In response, anthropologist Fred Spoor and Meave and Louise Leakey produced much more detailed digital [[topographical]] scans of the KNM-WT 40000 maxilla in 2010, permitting the comparison of many more anatomical landmarks on the maxillae of all other early hominins, modern humans, [[chimpanzee]]s, and [[gorilla]]s, in order to more accurately correct the distortion. The new reconstruction more convincingly verifies the distinctness of ''Kenyanthropus''.<ref name=Spoor2010>{{cite journal|first1=F.|last1=Spoor|first2=M. G.|last2=Leakey|author2-link=Meave Leakey|first3=L. N.|last3=Leakey|author3-link=Louise Leakey|year=2010|title=Hominin diversity in the middle Pliocene of eastern Africa: the maxilla of KNM-WT 40000|journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B|volume=365|issue=1556|pages=3377–3388|pmc=2981955|pmid=20855311|doi=10.1098/rstb.2010.0042}}</ref>

In 2003, Spanish writer [[Camilo José Cela Conde]] and evolutionary biologist [[Francisco J. Ayala]] proposed resurrecting the genus "''Praeanthropus''" to house all australopithecines which are not ''Ardipithecus'', ''Paranthropus'', or ''[[Australopithecus africanus|A. africanus]]'', though they opted to [[synonym (taxonomy)|synonymise]] ''Kenyanthropus'' with ''Homo'' as "''H. platyops''".<ref name=Conde2003>{{cite journal|last1=Cela-Conde|first1=C. J.|author-link=Camilo José Cela Conde|last2=Ayala|first2=F. J.|author-link2=Francisco J. Ayala|year=2003|title=Genera of the human lineage|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=100|issue=13|pages=7684–7689|bibcode=2003PNAS..100.7684C|doi=10.1073/pnas.0832372100|pmc=164648|pmid=12794185|doi-access=free}}</ref> Their recommendations have been largely rejected.<ref name=Tattersall2017>{{cite journal|last=Tattersall|first=I.|authorlink=Ian Tattersall|year=2017|title=Species, genera, and phylogenetic structure in the human fossil record: a modest proposal|journal=Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews|volume=26|issue=3|pages=116–118|doi=10.1002/evan.21523|pmid=28627785|s2cid=43487900|quote=Forms such as ''Ardipithecus'', ''Sahelanthropus'', and ''Orrorin'' have also been admitted to the pantheon, though this has clearly been facilitated by their great age. And in a nod to history, the venerable genus ''Paranthropus'' has been grandfathered in for use by those who think it useful. But except for the widely dismissed revival of ''Praeanthropus'', there has been little real rethinking of the hugely minimalist hominid taxonomy, generic as well as specific, that Mayr foisted on us all those years ago...}}</ref>

{{African hominin timeline}}