The story of “The petite bodies of the robust australopithecines” is changing in light of the last 15 years of evidence, and footprints are leading the way. johnhawks.net/p/the-big-feet…

The big feet of Paranthropus boisei

New analysis of footprint trackways suggest a larger body size than previously thought for this Early Pleistocene human relative.

johnhawks.net

Aug 2, 2026 · 7:02 PM UTC

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Replying to @johnhawks
It is interesting that Homo floresiensis also had big feet, but a small body - which suggest a lot of variance in early hominin foot morphology
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Increasingly it's clear there was variation in foot mechanics also
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Replying to @johnhawks
Well said!
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Replying to @johnhawks
sort of pigeon - toed ? I read where they have found 2 unknown, archaic genetic contributors to modern man...Do you have any ideas which hominins these would have been ?
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Replying to @johnhawks
Are the feet wider than expected for their size? Longer? This could tell us about robustness from another angle, since I think longer feet would imply more height and thickness more robustness
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