Named for Mary Leakey (1913–1996), her husband Louis Leakey (1903–1972) and her son Richard Leakey (1944– ), all major figures in the paleoanthropology of Africa. Mary and Louis worked together for 30 years and proved that human evolution was centered in Africa, rather than in Asia. Many of their most important discoveries were made at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. With his team in Kenya, Richard Leakey discovered that the Koobi Fora site contained one of the richest and most varied assemblages of early human remains anywhere in the world. (M 31612) _ _.