Pre-Zinjanthropus

the conventional name of a higher primate whose bones were discovered in 1960 by L. Leakey in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. The primate was named Pre-Zinjanthropus because it was found in a layer more ancient than the one containing the bones of Zinjanthropus. Pre-Zinjanthropus is more than 2 million years old. Some researchers consider Pre-Zinjanthropus to be a man because of the flaked pebble tools found with him and refer to him as Homo habilis (“skillful man”). Other scholars treat Pre-Zinjanthropus as a representative of the australopithecines (Australopithecus habilis).