Lucy+-+Australopithecus

__=Home= =Timeline= =1973 - Tomoko Ohta= =Uner Tan= __ **__ =Lucy (//Australopithecus//)= __**

Name: Lucy ( //**Australopithecus afarensis**//)
Found in: Ethiopia Discovered: 1974 by Donald Johanson and Tom Gray Lived: 3.2 million years ago What is it: Remains from a direct ancestor to humans (the first human)

Background Information On November 24, 1974 Donald Johanson and Tom Gray discovered an Australopithecus skeleton while they were mapping the area. The skeleton was later named "Lucy" because of a song playing at the revelations of her. By the skeleton, scientist discovered that she look like an ape, but she walks on two legs. Her skeleton shows this walking skills by her having a different hip bone and leg bone then an average ape."Lucy" was categorized as a hominid, or human-like creature. Lucy was the first hominid skeleton to be found and the first evidences of the evolution of the human. She was seen as the link to the human’s ancestors. She was the most complete hominid and the oldest skeleton found. Her skeleton was different from other known hominid skeletons because 40% of her skeleton was found, with bones from both sides of her body. With this number of bones __#|available__, scientist could use mirror imaging to put together 70% of her body, unlike other skeletons. Besides walking up straight, she has very similar hands to modern day humans.

Why is "Lucy" (Australopithecus) and the discovery of the skeleton important from a scientific evolutionary standpoint?
====Before the discovery of "Lucy”, the knowledge and most of all evidence from early human beings were next to zero. When a paleoanthrologist usually find remains of early human beings, it is only small fragments. It is said that before “Lucy” was discovered, all evidence from early human beings could fit in your hand ([]) . But "Lucy" is a completely different case because 40% of the skeletons of the early human were found and would serve as scientific evidence for evolution. For example, with the help from parts of the skull found; scientists could conclude that "Lucy" had a small brain, but was walking upright which supports Louis Leakey’s theory that when the Australopithecus started walking upright, its brain size was starting to grow, which is an excellent evidence for evolution and the link from the apes to humans ( //The Origins of Humankind//) .====

> === === > === " Apologetics Press - Lucy Dethroned."//Apologetics Press - Home//. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2013. . === > === ===
 * Reference- **
 * ** BBC - Science & Nature - The evolution of man. (n.d.). BBC - Homepage. Retrieved January 16, 2013, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/prehistoric_life/human/human_evolution/mother_of_man1.shtml **
 * === Stephen Tomkins (1998). //The Origins of Humankind//. Cambridge University Press. [|ISBN] [|0-521-46676-8] . ===
 * ** Purohit, V. (n.d.). Lucy: The First Hominid Skeleton. Buzzle. Retrieved January 16, 2013, from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/lucy-the-first-hominid-skeleton.html **
 * === "AL 288-1 | The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program." //Human Evolution by The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program//. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2013. . ===