Public volunteers are being asked to help fossil hunt in the Kenyan desert by searching through one million images from Turkana Basin, an area considered key for those looking for fossils of early human ancestors, according to BBC News. The initiative is called FossilFinder and utilizes photos that were taken using drones and special aerial camera systems.
"It's an opportunity for the public to take part in this immense search for new fossil material at Lake Turkana," said one of the project's leaders Andrew Wilson of the University of Bradford. "This is a huge amount of material that couldn't be searched by any one person, and it couldn't really be searched effectively by a computerised system on its own."
Turkana Basin extends from northern Kenya to southern Ethiopia and is rich in 1.4 to 1.8-million-year-old fossils, according to BizTek Mojo. In fact, it is alleged that the first three species in the Homo genus evolved during this time period, giving the project the potential for significant discoveries.
"There are major questions to be answered," said Randolph Donahue, another member of the FossilFinder team. "What's the relationship of these different species? Which one turns out to be our ancestor?"
Many other fossil types also exist in the area including snails, fish vertebrae and root casts, according to New Scientist. Although not directly related to humans, these fossils are still important as the main goal of the project is to get a better idea of the geology and environmental characteristics of the area in the past.
