Leakey, Richard (1944-)

British archaeologist. In 1972 he discovered at Lake Turkana, Kenya, an apelike skull, estimated to be about 2.9 million years old; it had some human characteristics and a brain capacity of 800 cu cm. In 1984 his team found an almost complete skeleton of Homo erectus some 1.6 million years old. He is the son of Louis and Mary Leakey.