Emma Mbua

"The species was previously thought not to exist in Kenya, so this discovery has thrust Kenya once again into the limelight as the home of one of the most important archaeological discovered. That A. Afarensis existed in Highlands as well as lowland Savannah shows that it was very adaptable"

"For the last seven years, I have been involved in research at Kantis Fossil Site (KFS), a new paleontological site on the outskirts of Nairobi city in Kenya. KFS is dated to 3.5 million years and lies on banks of a seasonal river known as Kantis river, situated on a privately owned farm."

"The site is located on eastern arm of the Rift Valley (01.39077 S, 36.72365 E), with an elevation of 1746 meters above sea level. Although the presence of bone bed was noted in the geological survey of the Nairobi area in 1991, no systematic research had been conducted in this area prior to 2009."

"At the time of reporting the site, the farm owner noted his family first saw fossilized bones valley in the mid-1970’s, but at that time the importance of the fossils as part of our national heritage was not appreciated in Kenya."