Mary Leakey Honored By Google Doodle On Her 100th Birthday

Though Mary Leakey passed away in 1996, today would have marked her 100th birthday. Her legacy was honored by Google by placing the image of her and her beloved Dalmatians as the Google doodle for today.

As described by National Geographic, Mary Leakey was born as Mary Douglas Nicol during the early era of the theory of physical human evolution.

She plays a critical role in human history, for bringing to life the story of human history. Her discovery of Homo habilis “handy man” in 1960 marks the first known expert stone tool makers.

Her son now continues her legacy and continues his work in Africa in support of people and animals there.

PC Magazine described how Google wanted to honor Mary Leakey’s work and contribution to human evolution.

“In this Doodle, I wanted to highlight Leakey’s work in the most charming way possible,” wrote Doodler Betsy Bauer. “I began by focusing on her discovery of the fossilized Proconsul skull, but ultimately decided to depict a scene of her excavation of the Laetoli footprints. As a fun touch, I included her pet dalmatians, whom are often included in old photographs of Leakey.”

Leakey’s discoveries included finding a skull dating 1.75 million years named Zinjanthropus bosei. Leakey was also responsible for the finding of a large brained hominid in 1961.

Mary’s largest and most significant discovery came in the late 1970s when she found foot prints belonging to the species Australopithecus afarensis dating back 2.9 to 3.5 million years.

Leakey’s Foundation is honoring her birthday today by soliciting donations to mark Mary Leakey’s 100th Birthday.