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Glite Dictionary
Mary Leakey

Mary Leakey

1 7.4
English scientist who found fossil skulls of early humans and helped study human origins
  • proper noun
: Mary Leakey
  • The Zinjanthropus skull was unearthed by Mary Leakey at Olduvai Gorge in 1959.

Examples

  • The renowned paleontologist Mary Leakey made groundbreaking discoveries in Africa.

  • As a pioneering paleontologist, Mary Leakey helped shape our understanding of early hominids.

  • Mary Leakey made one of the most important discoveries in the history of paleoanthropology.

  • Did Mary Leakey really find the Zinjanthropus skull?

  • Mary Leakey made one of the most important discoveries in the history of paleoanthropology.

  • As a pioneering paleontologist, Mary Leakey helped shape our understanding of early hominids.

  • The Zinjanthropus skull was unearthed by Mary Leakey at Olduvai Gorge in 1959.

Synonyms

Mary Douglas Leakey
vsMary Leakey
7.5

English scientist who discovered important early human bones in Tanzania

is the same person but named without the middle name

Surface Forms

Mary Leakey main

Morphology

Mary + Leakey

This is a proper name composed of two personal names; knowing the words 'Mary' and 'Leakey' does not provide information about the person’s identity, profession, or biography. Proper names require world knowledge or prior exposure rather than compositional inference, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituents would not derive 'English paleontologist' from them.

Etymology

Mary Leakey was an English scientist who uncovered a large early human skull at Olduvai Gorge in 1959. The picture of her carefully brushing dirt off that skull is a strong memory hook: Mary Leakey stands for a leading fossil hunter who helped us understand 'early humans'.