There is no other single family that has contributed so much to one particular field of science as much as the Leakeys have to paleoanthroplogy. Paleoanthroplogy is the study of fossilized human remains. It is the science which helps explain the origins of human kind, and is constantly reproving that evolution does indeed exist.

Mary and Louis Leaky married and began their career together, and dynasty, in 1939. The first and most notable characteristic of their work was that they went against all contemporary academic teachings which claimed human life began in Asia, and decided to search instead in East Africa. Since then, they, and the successive two generations of Leakeys have not only proven that human life did begin in Africa, but are responsible for numerous other finds that contribute significantly to our understanding of primate history. All of which was quite a shock to the established racist thought of European colonists.

There are a few main epicenters of the Leaky discoveries. They are all in East Africa, and are somewhat near Lake Turkana and one of the most famous is Olduvai Gorge. Olduvai Gorge is a ravine in the Great Rift Valley in northern Tanzania. In 1959 Mary discovered a partial skeleton of a extinct primate. Louis went on to name it Austrolapithicus boisei. Someone else discovering it and Louis naming it was a dynamic that continued for many years, and seemingly one that brought Louis notoriety, not to mention many lecture tours.

Due to the successive layers of volcanic ash in Olduvai Gorge, radiometric dating is relatively easy and precise. Such dating techniques put the fossil at 1.75 million years ago (mya). A short band of primates, they measured in at 4 ft 3 in for males and 3 ft 5 in for females with a brain size of 500-550 cubic centimeters, less than half of modern human's 1350 -1450 cubic centimeters. A few years later, in 1964, Louis and Mary's son, Jonathan, discovered Homo habilis, dated at 2.5 mya. The name is Latin for 'man with ability' and was the first Homo (which means direct ancestor of humans) to be credited with using tools. Those tools were stone flakes.

Just 45 km south of Olduvai is Laetoli, another site of the Leakeys. There, in 1976, Mary discovered three sets of ancient footprints that had been preserved, once again, due to the successive layers of ash in the area. The prints are of two large sets of feet, and one small set, so it is believed that an ancient family went for a stroll when the ground was a bit damp, and shortly after a fine layer of ash covered the prints, essentially cementing them in place. The footprints were dated at 3.6 mya, pushing back the date for known bipedalism. The footprint showed the family had no mobile big toe, as non-human primates do, and an arch in the foot, which is characteristic of bipedalism.

Probably, the biggest indicator of bipedalism is that there were no accompanying knuckle prints to the side of the prints. It is now generally thought that prints were left by Australopithecus afarensis, a species popularized by the finding of Lucy, also discovered by Mary.

The third Leaky site now proving itself to be a wealth of really old, dead things is Koobi Fora, located on the savannas of northern Kenya. Mary and Louis' granddaughter, Louise, currently heads the Koobi Fora Research Project, as her father once did. Louise's mother Maeve made a notable discovery in the 1990's. Maeve found bones of a biped from around 4.2 mya. She and her team classified this partial skeleton as Kenyanthropus platyops, or 'flat faced man of Kenya'. Significantly, this primate was a contemporary of Australopithecus afarensis. This makes human ancestry a bit more complex since it seems there were two bipedal apes roaming around at the same time.

All of these sites have been the location of numerous other finds, including bones of extinct animals, clues to the diet of extinct primates, and many other primate bones. Additionally, the family's impact has not been felt solely within the paleoanthropological community. Both Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall are protégés of Louis Leaky. Maeve's husband Richard is known not only for his work at Koobi Fora, but for receiving a public whipping in Kenya after an unsuccessful attempt to run for election in an opposition party of his creation. And he is also known for heavily arming the anti-poaching troops within Kenya National Forest.

Though respected and lauded the Leakeys are not above the critical eye of academic peers. For example, Kenyanthropus platyops is widely believed to simply be a poorly preserved Australopithecus afarensis. Regardless, with a third generation still digging in the dirt, and doing so with the fame and grant money few archaeologists are able to secure, as well as the seeming existence of "Leakey luck," it is inevitable that the Leakeys will uncover a few more successes.

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