- Lucy is the world’s most famous pre-human fossil. Her skeleton is 3.2 million years old and was the first ever recorded find of the Australopithecus afarensis skeleton.
- Lucy’s skeleton was the biggest breakthrough in study on early humans, and her skeleton established the A. ...
- Even so, only 40 percent of Lucy’s remains have been discovered. ...
Why is Lucy skeleton famous?
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 ...
Why was the discovery of Lucy so important to archeologists?
The age of Lucy was significant because it broke the 3-million-year barrier. Before her discovery, Johanson said the number of human fossils older than 3 million years could “fit in the palm in your hand.” So finding a skeleton that was 3.2 million years old was breathtaking.
What is the famous fossil Lucy?
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.
What is Lucy known for?
Lucy means light. Saint Lucy, also known as Saint Lucia or Saint Lukia is the patron saint of the blind. Born to rich and noble parents in Syracuse, Sicily, in the year 283 AD she lost her Roman father in infancy. She was raised by her Greek mother, Eutychia, who instilled in her the sense of sharing with the poor.
Why were the discoveries of hominid footprints and Lucy important?
The discovery of Lucy's skeleton and the footprints near her is important because it showed that our ancestors walked upright.
Was Lucy the first human?
Perhaps 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).
Why is was called Lucy fossil?
The team that excavated her remains, led by American paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson and French geologist Maurice Taieb, nicknamed the skeleton “Lucy” after the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” which was played at the celebration the day she was found.
What killed Lucy the fossil?
New analysis suggests that Lucy—one of the most complete hominin fossils ever found—met a tragic end three million years ago. Lucy, our renowned hominin relative, died some 3.18 million years ago after plummeting from a tree, according to researchers from the University of Texas at Austin.
How was Lucy 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.
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.
What did St. Lucy do good?
The legend of Lucy She wished to spend the money intended for her dowry on alms for the poor. Lucy travelled with her mother to the tomb of Saint Agatha. As they prayed at the tomb, Lucy saw a vision of Saint Agatha and her mother's longstanding illness was miraculously cured as Lucy had hoped it would be.
Why was Saint Lucy made a saint?
When her body was prepared for burial in the family mausoleum it was discovered that her eyes had been miraculously restored. This is one of the reasons that Lucy is the patron saint of those with eye illnesses.
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.
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.
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.
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.
What is Lucy's legacy?
A six-year exhibition tour of the United States was undertaken during 2007–13; it was titled Lucy's Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia and it featured the actual Lucy fossil reconstruction and over 100 artifacts from prehistoric times to the present. The tour was organized by the Houston Museum of Natural Science and was approved by the Ethiopian government and the U.S. State Department. A portion of the proceeds from the tour was designated to modernizing Ethiopia's museums.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
How tall was Lucy?
Lucy stood about 3 feet 7 inches (109 cm) tall and weighed about 60 pounds (27 kg). See also Hadar; Laetoli; Sterkfontein. Reconstructed replica of the skull of “Lucy,” a 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis found by anthropologist Donald Johanson in 1974 at Hadar, Ethiopia.
What is the name of the organism with long arms, short legs, a small brain and a small pelvis
The specimen is usually classified as Australopithecus afarensis and suggests—by having long arms, short legs, an apelike chest and jaw, and a small brain but a relatively humanlike pelvis—that bipedal locomotion preceded the development of a larger (more humanlike) brain in hominin evolution.
Where was Lucy the hominin found?
When her remains were unearthed in Ethiopia’s Afar region in 1974, Lucy kicked off a new era in the understanding of human evolution. At the time she was the oldest hominin fossil ever found. And instead of the odd jawbone, tooth or partial skull typically found by paleoanthropologists, much of Lucy’s skeleton was recovered — including enough to see she had traits handy for tree-climbing as well as for walking upright. More than 40 years on, paleoanthropologists still argue over whether she and other members of A. afarensis spent most of their time above ground or on it, walking fully upright.
How did Lucy die?
She’s the most famous of our distant ancestral kin and, while it’s way too late to send flowers, we now know how Lucy died some 3.18 million years ago. The most famous Australopithecus afarensis appears to have died due to injuries sustained in a fall, according to new research.
What was the most famous fossil that died?
Lucy's Demise: What Killed the Most Famous Fossil. An artist's reconstruction of Lucy in better times. The most famous Australopithecus afarensis, a species likely ancestral to our own, appears to have died from injuries sustained in a fall, according to new research.
Did Lucy's bones fracture?
A team led by anthropologist John Kappelman of the University of Texas at Austin determined through computed tomographic scans that several of Lucy’s bones had been fractured shortly before death . What’s more, by comparing the fractures to those seen in hospital ERs, the team was able to reconstruct Lucy’s last moments.
Do paleoanthropologists argue over whether A. afarensis spent most of their time above ground?
More than 40 years on, paleoanthropologists still argue over whether she and other members of A. afarensis spent most of their time above ground or on it, walking fully upright. The new findings, published today in Nature, don’t settle the debate. But they do add an intriguing new piece of evidence to the discussion.
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