利基家族(Leakey family)

考古学家和古人类学家辈出的家族，以在东非发现人的化石和其他化石遗存而闻名於世。路易.西摩.巴塞特.利基（1903～1972）出生於英国传教士家庭，在肯亚长大，後来到剑桥大学就读，1931年到坦尚尼亚的奥杜威峡谷作田野调查。在那里，他的妻子玛丽.道格拉斯.利基（1913～1996）也加入考古工作，1959年她发现一种南猿属化石。这对夫妇後来发掘了第一个巧人化石，以及「原人猿」（人类和类人猿的共同祖先，约生活於2,500万年前）和「肯亚猿」（Kenyapithecus，另一种与类人猿-人类有关的种，约生活於1,400万年前）遗存。玛丽曾说服古德尔和福塞创先研究黑猩猩和大猩猩。玛丽在她先生过世後继续作了许多重要的发现，其中包括莱托里足迹。他们的儿子理查.利基（1944～）以在肯亚图尔卡纳湖湖岸的库比福勒遗址工作闻名，他在那里发现最早至250万年前的非洲巧人化石。

English version：

Leakey family

Family of archaeologists and paleoanthropologists known for their discoveries of hominid and other fossil remains in eastern Africa. Louis S. B. Leakey (1903-1972), born of British missionary parents, grew up in Kenya, was educated at Cambridge Univ., and eventually (1931) came to do field research at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. He was joined there by his wife, Mary D. Leakey (1913-1996), who in 1959 uncovered remains of a form of Australopithecus. The couple later uncovered the first known remains of Homo habilis, as well as those of Proconsul, a common ancestor of both humans and apes (lived c. 25 million years ago), and Kenyapithecus, another ape-human link (lived c. 14 million years ago). L. S. B. Leakey persuaded both Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey to undertake their pioneering studies of chimpanzees and gorillas. Mary Leakey continued to make important discoveries, including the Laetoli footprints, after her husband's death. Their son, Richard Leakey (born 1944), is known for his work at the Koobi Fora site on the shores of Lake Turkana in Kenya, where he uncovered evidence of H. habilis in Africa as early as 2.5 million years ago.