Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis)

Discovered in 1974 in Africa, in one of the villages in Ethiopia by paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson and his crew members, Lucy is a collection of several pieces of bone fossils representing around 40% of the female skeleton of the “hominin” species Australopithecus afarensis.

Lived in the southern part of Africa about 3.2 million years ago, Lucy was about 3 and half feet tall, weighed about 29 kg and looked somewhat like a Chimpanzee. Her skeletal design showed that she was bipedal i.e.  she walked upright (equivalent properties to those of homo sapiens). Her age was probably in between 12- 14 years. The study of her wisdom teeth showed that she was a fully-grown species. The fact that Lucy could walk upright despite she had a smaller brain than the normal homo sapiens questioned about the assumptions paleoanthropologist made about the bipedalism. (earlier it was believed that the increase in size of the brain had caused the homo sapiens to walk upright)

Naming of Lucy was somewhat unique. Lucy acquired her name from the song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” by the Beatles. The song was repeatedly played in the expedition camp after the excavation team’s first day work at the recovery site. The name was loved by everyone there and finally after the discovery of the fossils, the name Lucy was given with a public announcement.

Lucy became famous worldwide, and the story of her discovery and construction attracted people’s attention (published by Donald Johanson in a book). Lucy was supposed to have lived for 12 years. She died in her middle age. There are many assumptions made on how she died. Some researcher suggests that she died after falling from a tree. Donald Johanson, however disagreed on those assumptions and believes that the cause of her death is still mysterious. Or simply we can say the real cause of her death isn’t still discovered.