Muddy footprints left on a Kenyan lakeside suggest two of our early human ancestors were neighbors some 1.5 million years ago. Researchers say the footprints were left in the mud by two different species, perhaps within a matter of hours or days. Scientists previously knew from fossil remains that these two extinct branches of the human evolutionary tree lived about the same time in the Turkana Basin. But dating fossil footprints is more precise. Researcher say one species was walking like modern humans while the other had an unusual gait. The study was published Thursday in the journal Science. Muddy footprints left on a Kenyan lakeside suggest two of our early human ancestors were neighbors some 1.5 million years ago. Researchers say the footprints were left in the mud by two different species, perhaps within a matter of hours or days. Scientists previously knew from fossil remains that these two extinct branches of the human evolutionary tree lived about the same time in the Turkana Basin. But dating fossil footprints is more precise. Researcher say one species was walking like modern humans while the other had an unusual gait. The study was published Thursday in the journal Science. AP Technology and Science
