Increasing evidence for both taxonomic diversity and early stone manufacture during the Pliocene highlights the importance of the hominin fossil record from this epoch in eastern Africa. Here, we describe dental remains from Lomekwi (West Turkana, Kenya), which date from between 3.2 and 3.5 Ma. The sample was collected between 1982 and 2009 and includes five gnathic specimens and a total of 67 teeth (mostly isolated permanent postcanine teeth). Standard linear dimensions indicate that, although the Lomekwi teeth are relatively small, there is broad overlap in size with contemporary Australopithecus afarensis and Australopithecus deyiremeda specimens at most tooth positions. However, some dental characters differentiate this sample from these species, including a relatively large P₄ and M₃ compared with the M₁, a high incidence of well-developed protostylids, and specific accessory molar cuspules. Owing to a lack of well-preserved tooth crowns (and the complete absence of mandibular teeth) in the holotype and paratype of Kenyanthropus platyops, and limited comparable gnathic morphology in the new specimens, it cannot be determined whether these Lomekwi specimens should be attributed to this species. Attribution of these specimens is further complicated by a lack of certainty about position along the tooth row of many of the molar specimens. More comprehensive shape analyses of the external and internal morphology of these specimens, and additional fossil finds, would facilitate the taxonomic attribution of specimens in this taxonomically diverse period of human evolution.

在上新世期间，分类学上的多样性和早期石材制造的越来越多的证据凸显了东部非洲这一时期人类化石记录的重要性。在这里，我们描述了Lomekwi（肯尼亚西图尔卡纳）的牙齿残骸，日期为3.2至3.5 Ma。该样本是在1982年至2009年之间收集的，其中包括5个咬人标本和总共67颗牙齿（大多数是孤立的犬后齿）。标准的线性尺寸表明，尽管Lomekwi牙齿相对较小，但在大多数牙齿位置上，与当代的法氏古猿和法氏古猿标本在尺寸上有很大的重叠。但是，一些牙齿特征使该样品与这些物种区分开，包括相对较大的磷。₄和M ₃与所述M个比较₁，高发达protostylids的发生率，和特定附件摩尔cuspules。由于肯尼亚扁豆的全型和副型缺乏充分保存的牙冠（并且完全没有下颌齿），并且在新标本中可比的棘手形态有限，因此无法确定这些Lomekwi标本是否应归因于该物种。由于缺少许多磨牙标本沿牙齿排的位置的不确定性，这些标本的归因变得更加复杂。对这些标本的外部和内部形态进行更全面的形状分析，以及发现更多的化石，将有助于在人类进化的这一分类学上多样化的阶段对标本进行分类。