"Turkana Boy"
Spotted at Local Starbucks
Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2.30 AM CT
CHICAGO - Customers enjoying a coffee drink recently at their local
Starbucks may have also enjoyed a glimpse into human evolution in
East Africa.
A message by Koobi Fora Research Project (KFRP) co-director Dr.
Louise Leakey appears down the side of certain grande- and venti-sized
drink containers at participating Starbucks stores across the United
States.
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A
Starbucks cup featuring quote by Dr. Louise Leakey.
ENLARGE.
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The cafe chain's
current promotion, The Way I See It, features "a
collection of thoughts, opinions and expressions provided by notable
figures that now appear on our widely shared cups."
Dr. Leakey is one of 20 authors, scientists, artist, and activists
whos words are shared with coffee drinkers nationwide.
"1.6 million years ago a youth died in Africa. His body was swept
into a swamp," the quote reads. "In 1984 his bones were
painstakingly excavated to reveal a species on the brink of becoming
human. All people on earth have one think in common. We share a
single African ancestor; the same as this young boy."
The ancient African youth is a reference to the famous "Turkana Boy"
fossil, a well-preserved skeleton of a young Homo erectus, found by
Dr. Leakey's father, paleontologist and conservationist Richard
Leakey, in the early 80s. The quote also reflects a key tenet of the
KFRP--that all humans share a common past and, as a result, a
common destiny.
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