Did Leakey discovered Lucy?
The Lucy specimen is an early australopithecine and is dated to about 3.2 million years ago....Lucy (Australopithecus)Catalog no.AL 288-1Place discoveredAfar Depression, EthiopiaDate discoveredNovember 24, 1974Discovered byDonald Johanson Maurice Taieb Yves Coppens Tom Gray4 more rows
How did Lucy get discovered?
When and where was Lucy found? Lucy was found by Donald Johanson and Tom Gray on November 24, 1974, at the site of Hadar in Ethiopia. They had taken a Land Rover out that day to map in another locality. After a long, hot morning of mapping and surveying for fossils, they decided to head back to the vehicle.
Why is Lucy so famous?
Lucy was one of the first hominin fossils to become a household name. Her skeleton is around 40% complete - at the time of her discovery, she was by far the most complete early hominin known.
Who found Lucy and where?
“Lucy” is the nickname for the Australopithecus afarensis partial skeleton that was discovered in the Afar desert of Ethiopia in 1974 by an international team of scientists led by former Museum curator Dr. Donald Johanson.
Who was Lucy the first human?
Australopithecus afarensisPerhaps the world's most famous early human ancestor, the 3.2-million-year-old ape "Lucy" was the first Australopithecus afarensis skeleton ever found, though her remains are only about 40 percent complete (photo of Lucy's bones). Discovered in 1974 by paleontologist Donald C.
Who named Lucy the skeleton?
Lucy was named after the Beatles' song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” A huge Beatles fan, Johanson had the whole camp of scientists listening to the band during their archaeological expedition.
Is Lucy the oldest skeleton?
Lucy's Ethiopian name is Dinkinesh, which translates to “you are marvelous.” Peoples of the Afar region call Lucy “Heelomali” which means “she is special.” At the time of Lucy's discovery, she was a shining star in the world of paleoanthropology: she was the oldest, most complete hominin skeleton ever discovered; she ...
Is Lucy a real story?
The film is loosely inspired by the life of NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak, who was widely reported to have worn a diaper on a 14-hour cross country drive to confront the new flame of her former lover, becoming the first astronaut ever to be arrested.
What was Lucy's diet?
Lucy probably ate a mix of foods, including ripe fruits, nuts, and tubers from both the forest and savanna. Incisor teeth are typically used to prepare the food for mastication (think about biting off a piece of an apple), and molar teeth are used to masticate, or chew, the food into a small pulp that can be swallowed.
Where is Lucy found?
Hadar, EthiopiaLucy / SiteHadar is a paleontological site in Mille district, Administrative Zone 1 of the Afar Region, Ethiopia, 15 km upstream of the A1 road's bridge across the Awash River. Wikipedia
What did Lucy look like?
Lucy was a small-bodied female that probably stood about 3”6” (107cm)8 tall and weighed roughly 60 pounds (27.3 kg)9. Scientists can tell that Lucy is female because the anatomy of her pelvis generally resembles that of female modern humans. In addition, Lucy's body size overall, as well as those of other female A.
How tall was Lucy the first human?
The body height of Australopithecus afarensis A.L. 288-1 ("Lucy") has recently been estimated and calculated as between 1 m to 1.06 m; other estimates give ca. 1.20 m. In addition, it is often stated that her relative leg length was shorter than that of modern humans.
How old is Lucy?
Lucy is dated to just less than 3.18 million years old. Back to top.
What caused Lucy's death?
No cause has been determined for Lucy’s death. One of the few clues we have is the conspicuous lack of postmortem carnivore and scavenger marks. Typically, animals that were killed by predators and then scavenged by other animals (such as hyaenas) will show evidence of chewing, crushing, and gnawing on the bones.
What is the damage to Lucy's bones?
In contrast, the only damage we see on Lucy's bones is a single carnivore tooth puncture mark on the top of her left pubic bone. This is what is called a perimortem injury, one occurring at or around the time of death.
Did Lucy have duplication?
Although several hundred fragments of hominid bone were found at the Lucy site, there was no duplication of bones. A single duplication of even the most modest of bone fragments would have disproved the single skeleton claim, but no such duplication is seen in Lucy.
Where was Lucy discovered?
Lucy was discovered in 1974 in Africa, at Hadar, a site in the Awash Valley of the Afar Triangle in Ethiopia, by paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The Lucy specimen is an early australopithecine and is dated to about 3.2 million years ago.
Who published Lucy's story?
Lucy became famous worldwide, and the story of her discovery and reconstruction was published in a book by Johanson.
What is the name of the female skeleton of a hominin?
Lucy ( Australopithecus) Lucy (. Australopithecus. ) Lucy is the common name of AL 288-1, several hundred pieces of fossilized bone representing 40 percent of the skeleton of a female of the hominin species Australopithecus afarensis. In Ethiopia, the assembly is also known as Dinkinesh, which means "you are marvelous" in the Amharic language.
How old is Lucy fossil?
This fossil was later dated at more than three million years old—much older than other hominin fossils known at the time. The site lay about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) from the site where "Lucy" subsequently was found, in a rock stratum 60 metres (200 ft) deeper than that in which the Lucy fragments were found.
What bone did Johanson find in Lucy?
Johanson recovered Lucy's left innominate bone and sacrum. Though the sacrum was remarkably well preserved, the innominate was distorted, leading to two different reconstructions. The first reconstruction had little iliac flare and virtually no anterior wrap, creating an ilium that greatly resembled that of an ape.
What are the characteristics of Lucy?
One of the most striking characteristics of the Lucy skeleton is a valgus knee, which indicates that she normally moved by walking upright. Her femur presents a mix of ancestral and derived traits. The femoral head is small and the femoral neck is short; both are primitive traits. The greater trochanter, however, is clearly a derived trait, being short and human-like—even though, unlike in humans, it is situated higher than the femoral head. The length ratio of her humerus (arm) to femur (thigh) is 84.6%, which compares to 71.8% for modern humans, and 97.8% for common chimpanzees, indicating that either the arms of A. afarensis were beginning to shorten, the legs were beginning to lengthen, or both were occurring simultaneously. Lucy also had a lordose curve, or lumbar curve, another indicator of habitual bipedalism. She apparently had physiological flat feet, not to be confused with pes planus or any pathology, even though other afarensis individuals appear to have had arched feet.
How tall was Lucy?
Lucy was 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) tall, weighed 29 kg (64 lb), and (after reconstruction) looked somewhat like a chimpanzee. The creature had a small brain like a chimpanzee, but the pelvis and leg bones were almost identical in function to those of modern humans, showing with certainty that Lucy's species were hominins that had stood upright and had walked erect.
How old is Lucy from the Museum of Human Origins?
In September 2013, the Museum unveiled a new Human Origins Gallery featuring Lucy, the famous 3.2 million-year-old human ancestor showcased as a skeletal mount as well as a sculpted reconstruction.
How old is Lucy?
Lucy. Australopithecus afarensis, 3.2 million-year-old human ancestor. Where Human Origins Gallery. “Lucy” is the nickname for the Australopithecus afarensis partial skeleton that was discovered in the Afar desert of Ethiopia in 1974 by an international team of scientists led by former Museum curator Dr. Donald Johanson.
What did Gurche do with Lucy's bones?
Gurche then used modeling clay to sculpt realistic muscles, based on muscle markings visible on Lucy’s bones.
What shape was Lucy's rib cage?
The new reconstruction is based on new knowledge from specimens discovered in Ethiopia that indicate that Lucy had neither a funnel-shaped (ape-like) nor barrel-shaped (human-like) rib cage. The shape was intermediate between humans and apes.
What percentage of the skeleton was found in Lucy?
When the partial skeleton was found, it was the oldest and most complete early human ancestor ever found, with 40 percent of the skeleton unearthed. Lucy has served as an important reference that has expanded researchers’ understanding of the morphology and anatomy of the earliest human ancestors and increased our knowledge of human evolution.
Who created the skeletal mount?
Sharing the spotlight with the new skeletal mount is a strikingly lifelike sculpture created by internationally renowned paleoartist John Gurche. This fully “fleshed-out” reconstruction details the muscular build and facial features of the upright walking human ancestor.
Discovery
Taxonomy
- The term hominid refers to a member of the zoological family Hominidae. Hominidae encompasses all species originating after the human/African ape ancestral split, leading to and including all species of Australopithecus and Homo. While these species differ in many ways, hominids share a suite of characteristics that define them as a group. The most conspicuous of …
Evolution
- Evidence now strongly suggests that the Hadar material, as well as fossils from elsewhere in East Africa from the same time period, belong to a single, sexually dimorphic species known as Australopithecus afarensis. At Hadar, the size difference is very clear, with larger males and smaller females being fairly easy to distinguish. Lucy clearly fits into the smaller group.
Cause
- No cause has been determined for Lucys death. One of the few clues we have is the conspicuous lack of postmortem carnivore and scavenger marks. Typically, animals that were killed by predators and then scavenged by other animals (such as hyaenas) will show evidence of chewing, crushing, and gnawing on the bones. The ends of long bones are often missing, and their shafts …
Characteristics
- There are several indicators which give a fair idea of her age. Her third molars (wisdom teeth) are erupted and slightly worn, indicating that she was fully adult. All the ends of her bones had fused and her cranial sutures had closed, indicating completed skeletal development. Her vertebrae show signs of degenerative disease, but this is not always associated with older age. All these i…
Geology
- The hominid-bearing sediments in the Hadar formation are divided into three members. Lucy was found in the highest of thesethe Kada Hadar or KHmember. While fossils cannot be dated directly, the deposits in which they are found sometimes contain volcanic flows and ashes, which can now be dated with the 40Ar/39Ar (Argon-Argon) dating technique. Armed with these dates and bolste…
Details
- Although several hundred fragments of hominid bone were found at the Lucy site, there was no duplication of bones. A single duplication of even the most modest of bone fragments would have disproved the single skeleton claim, but no such duplication is seen in Lucy. The bones all come from an individual of a single species, a single size, and a single developmental age. In life, she …
Overview
AL 288-1, commonly known as Lucy, is a collection of several hundred pieces of fossilized bone representing 40 percent of a female of the hominin species Australopithecus afarensis. In Ethiopia, the assembly is also known as Dinkinesh, which means "you are marvelous" in Amharic. Lucy was discovered in 1974 in Africa, at Hadar, a site in the Awash Valley of the Afar Triangle in Ethiopi…
Discovery
French geologist and paleoanthropologist Maurice Taieb discovered the Hadar Formation for paleoanthropology in 1970 in the Afar Triangle of Ethiopia in Hararghe region; he recognized its potential as a likely repository of the fossils and artifacts of human origins. Taieb formed the International Afar Research Expedition (IARE) and invited three prominent international scientists to condu…
Age estimates of the fossil
Initial attempts were made in 1974 by Maurice Taieb and James Aronson in Aronson's laboratory at Case Western Reserve University to estimate the age of the fossils using the potassium-argon radiometric dating method. These efforts were hindered by several factors: the rocks in the recovery area were chemically altered or reworked by volcanic activity; datable crystals were very scarce in the sample material; and there was a complete absence of pumice clasts at Hadar. (T…
Notable characteristics
One of the most striking characteristics of the Lucy skeleton is a valgus knee, which indicates that she normally moved by walking upright. Her femur presents a mix of ancestral and derived traits. The femoral head is small and the femoral neck is short; both are primitive traits. The greater trochanter, however, is clearly a derived trait, being short and human-like—even though, unlike in humans, it is s…
Death
Lucy's cause of death has not been determined. The specimen does not show the signs of post-mortem bone damage characteristic of animals killed by predators and then scavenged. The only visible damage is a single carnivore tooth mark on the top of her left pubic bone, believed to have occurred at or around the time of death, but which is not necessarily related to her death. Her third molars were erupted and slightly worn and, therefore, it was concluded that she was fully matur…
Exhibitions
The Lucy skeleton is preserved at the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa. A plaster replica is publicly displayed there instead of the original skeleton. A cast of the original skeleton in its reconstructed form is displayed at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. At the American Museum of Natural History in New York City a diorama presents Australopithecus afarensis and other human predecessors, showing each species and its habitat and explaining the behaviors a…
See also
• Ardi – more complete skeleton of earlier hominin species
• Dawn of Humanity – 2015 PBS documentary
• List of human evolution fossils
• Prehistoric Autopsy – 2012 BBC documentary
External links
• Cleveland Museum of Natural History
• "Institute of Human Origins". asu.edu. Arizona State University. June 15, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
• "Becoming Human: Paleoanthropology, Evolution, and Human Origins", a documentary hosted by Donald Johanson