What is Kamoya Kimeu?
'''Kamoya Kimeu''' (born c. 1940), a [[Kamba people|Kamba]] tribesman, is one of the world's most successful fossil collectors. With [[Paleontology|paleontologists]] [[Meave Leakey]] and [[Richard Leakey]], he found some of the most significant paleoanthropological discoveries. Kimeu found a ''[[Homo habilis]]'' skull known as KNM ER 1813, and an almost complete ''[[Homo erectus]]'' skeleton known as [[Turkana Boy]] or Nariokotome boy. He has two fossil primates named after him: ''Kamoyapithecus hamiltoni'' and ''Cercopithecoides kimeui''. Kimeu began to work in [[paleoanthropology]] as a labourer for [[Louis Leakey]] and [[Mary Leakey]] in the 1950s. He was recruited for Mary Leakey's team when she took over as head of excavations at [[Olduvai]]. She preferred to hire Kamba men rather than [[Kikuyu]], whom Louis preferred. In 1963 he joined with Richard Leakey's expeditions, accompanying him to the [[Omo River]] and Lake Rudolf (now [[Lake Turkana]]) in 1967. He quickly became Richard Leakey's right-hand man, controlling field operations in Leakey's absence. In 1977 he became the [[National Museums of Kenya]]'s [[curator]] for all [[archaeological site|prehistoric sites]] in Kenya. Kimeu was awarded the [[National Geographic Society]]'s LaGorce Medal by the US President [[Ronald Reagan]] in a ceremony at the [[White House]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Larsen|first=Clark Spencer|title=Our origins: discovering physical anthropology|url=https://archive.org/details/ouroriginsdiscov0000lars|year=2011|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|location=New York|isbn=978-0-393-93498-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ouroriginsdiscov0000lars/page/312 312]}}</ref> ==Related pages== *[[List of Kenyan scientists]] == References == {{reflist}} == Other websites == *[http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Lagerstatten/lkturkana/impdishomo.html A list of fossils found at Lake Turkana] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013192106/http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Lagerstatten/lkturkana/impdishomo.html |date=2