Richard Erskine Leakey was born in Nairobi, Kenya on December 19, 1944.
His parents, Louis and Mary Leakey, were renowned palaeontologists who pioneered the archaeological excavation of East Africa’s Great Rift Valley.
Richard Leakey, the second of three brothers, spent his infancy following his parents on archaeological digs, looking for relics of extinct animals and human predecessors.
When he was six, he discovered his first fossil, the jaw of an ancient species of enormous pig, but he was more interested in tracking living creatures in the field.
Richard Leakey is likely best known for his fossil discoveries, notably the 1984 discovery of the bones of “Turkana Boy,” a nearly complete skeleton of a juvenile boy Homo erectus dating back 1.6 million years.
According to the Royal Society, he also became a driving influence in the drive to end elephant and rhino poaching in Kenya.
Richard Leakey height: How tall was Richard Leakey?
Richard Leakey’s little propeller-driven plane crashed in 1993, smashing both of his lower legs, which were later amputated.
His height was however was 6 feet 4 inches whiles he had both legs.
