the taung child was at first proposed to have been killed by other hominids as part of raymond dart's osteo-dento-keratic culture hypothesis. however, later work by c.k. "bob" brain demonstrated that the child was probably killed by some sort of mammalian carnivore such as a leopard. recently, however, studies of the associated baboons by ron clarke and lee berger, and identification of specific marks on the taung child skull have demonstrated that the taung child may have been killed and eaten by a large bird of prey.