Michel Brunet (born April 6, 1940) is a French paleontologist and a professor at the Collège de France between 2008 and 2011. In 2001 Brunet announced the discovery in Central Africa of the skull and jaw remains of a late Miocenehominid nicknamed Toumaï.[1] These remains may predate the earliest previously known hominid remains, Lucy, by over three million years; however, this conclusion is the subject of a significant controversy.[2]
^Brunet, Michel; Guy, Franck; Pilbeam, David; Mackaye, Hassane Taisso; Likius, Andossa; Ahounta, Djimdoumalbaye; Beauvilain, Alain; Blondel, Cécile; Bocherens, Hervé; Boisserie, Jean-Renaud; De Bonis, Louis; Coppens, Yves; Dejax, Jean; Denys, Christiane; Duringer, Philippe; Eisenmann, Véra; Fanone, Gongdibé; Fronty, Pierre; Geraads, Denis; Lehmann, Thomas; Lihoreau, Fabrice; Louchart, Antoine; Mahamat, Adoum; Merceron, Gildas; Mouchelin, Guy; Otero, Olga; Campomanes, Pablo Pelaez; De Leon, Marcia Ponce; Rage, Jean-Claude; Sapanet, Michel; Schuster, Mathieu; Sudre, Jean; Tassy, Pascal; Valentin, Xavier; Vignaud, Patrick; Viriot, Laurent; Zazzo, Antoine; Zollikofer, Christoph (July 2002). "A new hominid from the Upper Miocene of Chad, Central Africa"(PDF). Nature. 418 (6894): 145–151. Bibcode:2002Natur.418..145B. doi:10.1038/nature00879. PMID12110880. S2CID1316969.