More and more fossils were found in South Africa and many of these fossils were honored with their own genus name and species name. There was Australopithecus africanus , Plesianthropus transvaalensis , Paranthropus robustus , Australopithecus prometheus and Paranthropus crassidens . It was clear that there were only two real species in South Africa, a gracile species represented by the Taung Child and a robust species represented by Brooms Paranthropus robustus . With the South African fossils gaining importance, information about their age remained inconclusive. All fossils that had been found had, in the past, fallen into limestone caves.
Limestone caves are like giant trashcans.
After heavy rains these caves fill up with rainwater and debris, this debris may have come from miles away and thus can t be dated by looking at the environment. In the nineteen fifties new fossils would be found that could be dated properly. Louis Leakey and his wife Mary had been searching the deposits of the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania for years and years. Through the years he had gathered an impressive collection of stone tools, but he never found the toolmaker. Than in 1958 a skull was found, but to Louis dismay it turned out to be that of what looked like a robust Australopithecine .