Australopithecus afarenis Louis Leakey found the first fossil remains of the species Australopithecus afarenis in 1935 during an excavation in Africa. He found a canine tooth from the A. afarenis species while in Laetoli, Tanzania, which is near Lake Victoria. He met his future wife Mary at Cambridge. It was 43 years until the next remains would be found. In 1978, Mary Leakey, who was Louis Leakey’s mistress at the time, and Paul Abell found three sets of fossilized footprints also in Laetoli. Australopithecus afarenis walked in fallen ash from a volcanic eruption nearly 4 million years ago. The footprints left behind were of the same pattern as mo