A ridge too far

摘要

The odd leg bones and prominent brow ridges of a fossil hominid found in Belgium in 1830 dearly belong to an ancient relative of Homo sapiens. But palaeontologist August Mayer wasn't having that: what he saw were the remains of a man who had spent his life on horseback despite a severe case of rickets, furrowing his brow in agony as a consequence, who hid himself away to die under 2 metres of fossil-laden sediment.