What is Kenyanthropus platyops?
{{italictitle}} {{Taxobox | colour = lightblue | name = ''Kenyanthropus platyops'' | fossil_range = [[Pliocene]] | image= | image_width= 230px | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]] | classis = [[Mammal]]ia | ordo = [[Primate]]s | familia = [[Hominidae]] | subfamilia = [[Homininae]] | genus = '''''Kenyanthropus''''' | binomial = †''Kenyanthropus platyops'' | binomial_authority = Leakey et al., 2001}} [[Image:kenyanthropus platyops.jpg|thumb|right|''Kenyanthropus platyops'']] '''''Kenyanthropus platyops''''' is an extinct [[hominid]] [[species]] discovered in [[Lake Turkana]], [[Kenya]] in 1999. It was by Justus Erus, who was part of [[Meave Leakey]]'s team.<ref>[http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/wt40000.html Kenyanthropus platyops<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The [[fossil]] is 3.5 to 3.2 million years old. It has a broad flat face with a toe bone that suggests it probably walked upright. Teeth are intermediate between typical [[human]] and typical [[ape]] forms. Leakey proposed that the fossil represents an entirely new hominine [[genus]].<ref>{{cite journal |authorlink= |year=2001 |title=New hominin genus from eastern Africa shows diverse middle Pliocene lineages |journal=Nature |volume=410 |issue= 6827|pages=433–440 |doi=10.1038/35068500 |pmid=11260704 |s2cid=4409453 |url= |accessdate= |quote= |last1=Leakey |first1=Meave G. |last2=Spoor |first2=Fred |last3=Brown |first3=Frank H. |last4=Gathogo |first4=Patrick N. |last5=Kiarie |first5=Christopher |last6=Leakey |first6=Louise N. |last7=McDougall |first7=Ian |bibcode=2001Natur.410..433L }}</ref> Others classify it as a separate species of ''[[Australopithecus]]'', '''''Australopithecus platyops''''', and still others interpret it as an individual of ''[[Australopithecus afarensis]]''. If some palaeo[[anthropologist]]s are correct, ''Kenyanthropus'' may not even represent a valid taxon. The specimen is so distorted by matrix-filled cracks that meaningful morphological characteristics are next to impossible to assess with confidence.