This post was orginally about TEDxDar whose theme was “Who killed Zinjanthropus?”
Since many of you come to this post looking for more information on Zinjanthropus man, though, I’ve updated this post to include more information about that.
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Table of Contents
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What Is Zinjanthropus Man & What Are the Characteristics of Zinjanthropus?
Zinjanthropus is a genus of fossil hominids based on a skull found in Tanzania, characterized by a very low brow and large molars, and tentatively assigned to the Lower Pleistocene.
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Who Found Zinjanthropus?
Zinjathropus was first found by Mary Leakey.
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Zinjanthropus Discovery
Mary Leakey found the first Zinjathropus fossils on July 17, 1959 around 10 o’clock in the morning.
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Where Did Mary Leakey Find Zinja Thropus?
Zinjathropus was found at Olduvai Gorge, now part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
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Does Zinjathropus Have a Nickname?
Yes, Zinjathropus’s nickname is ‘Nutcracker Man’ because of its huge molars (indicative of a vegetarian diet).
Zinjanthropus Pictures/Zinjathropus Images: Cicero Moraes 3D Reconstruction
How Old Is Zinjanthropus?
Zinjathropus lived on Earth about 1.8 million years ago.
Is Zinjathropus a Direct Ancestor to Modern Man?
No, Zinjathropus is too different from modern people to be a direct human ancestor.
What Is the Official Catalog Name of Zinjathropus?
The official catalog of the Zinjathropus fossil is OH5, which stands for Olduvai Hominid Number 5.
Zinjanthropus in Swahili
There is no different word for Zinjanthropus in Swahili.
Zinjanthropus remains the same word in both English and Swahili.
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It occurred to me recently, during a phone conversation with my cousin Vive, that though I had talked a lot about TEDxDar on Facebook and Twitter before it happened, I never came back to you, my readers, to tell you how it went.
Better late than never, here’s that story…
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TEDxDar began early on a Saturday morning (registration ended at 10:00 a.m.).
Thank God, the event organizers had foreseen that many of us would have left home without eating breakfast (as was my case), so the first item on the agenda was an eat-and-mingle breakfast.
Well fed and with chatting out of the way, we settled down in the new auditorium at the National Museum. We waited readily to hear some great, innovative ideas.
Innovative ideas? Hold on. Am I getting ahead of myself?
Are you familiar with TED, TEDx, and TEDTalks?
In case you’re not, let me give you a little background.
From the TED website:
TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences — the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh UK each summer — TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Project and TED Conversations, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize.
Photo Credits: The Leakey Foundation, Rosiah Marie, Jacqui Maher and TEDxDar
This blog was a very eloquent recap of TEDxDAR 2011. Although I am somewhat familiar with the TEDTalks, you explained the purpose of TEDxDAR very well! I was not aware of Zinjanthropus, therefore I found it interesting how the speakers were able to be themed around this fossil. I was particularly surprised at your description of January Makamba and his speech. I am much more aware of United States politicians and their tendency to “turn any gathering into a political rally,” therefore it was intriguing to see a parallel between the East African politicians and those we see in the U.S. I was glad to see that Makamba was able to step away from his political interests and challenge new solutions to problems that exist in Tanzania.
I was happy to see that TEDxDAR was a success and that there was a large variety of individuals who spoke and/or performed. As you said, “I felt so proudly Tanzanian.” I am glad to hear that the focus was on the positive, rather than the negative. I feel that the focus on negative aspects of countries such as Tanzania often outweigh the time spent celebrating the great achievements of individuals within the country. Thank you for sharing this information about the event! Would you make any suggestions to the organizers for further events?
Hi Sarah,
Welcome to ChickAboutTown! I am glad you enjoyed this post.
I took the time to explain TED, TEDx, and TEDTalks because I kept finding in offline conversations, that many of the people I spoke to knew very little about TED. I am glad you liked the explanation.
Since you say that American politicians, like East African ones, take the opportunity to turn every gathering into a political rally, maybe it’s just a politician thing. January Makamba impressed me a lot by keeping his talk apolitical and very analytical. He’s now definitely on my radar of Tanzanian politicians to watch out for (only one of two such politicians to date).
TEDxDar was extremely positive, and I greatly look forward to future ones. The one suggestion I’d have for the organizers would be to challenge speakers to respect the traditional 18-minute format of TEDTalks, though I understand that this would be very hard to do for cultural reasons.
Thanks for your feedback!
Biche
Well, well. It may have taken you a while to give us an overview of TEDxDAR, but I can’t believe it has taken me this long to get round to reading it. Very well done. I was really transported to the auditorium and felt just as inspired by these excellent Tanzanians. TEDTalks definitely has the right idea!
P.S. It is very sweet of you to dedicate the post to me! TEDTalks Rule!! 🙂
[Should that be TEDtalks rules? It is one entity, right? Ah well, never mind.]
Hi Vive,
Allow me to hide the nerd in me for a minute and NOT respond to your last question. More on that on other channels! 🙂
I am glad you finally got round to reading this post and that you enjoyed it. Yep, TED, in all its forms, rules!
It was my pleasure to dedicate this post to you, gango-’til-I-die! 🙂
B.