Early Humans
Name:__________________________________ Per:_____________
WR SCIENCE
Feb. 2008, Vol. 1, No. 6, pp. 4+
Learning from Lucy
By Susan Kruglinski
• What can an ancient skeleton teach us about our ancestors?
A very special visitor named Lucy has come to the United States from her home in
Africa. Lucy is special because she is more than 3 million years old. She's a skeleton--maybe the
most famous skeleton ever found. She's famous because scientists think she might be a relative
of modern people.
Lucy is an Australopithecus (awss-tray-loh-PI-theh-kuss).
That's an ape that may be an ancestor of humans. The skeleton is
usually kept in a vault in the National Museum in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia. Today she is on display at the Houston Museum of
Natural Science in Texas. When she leaves Houston, she will tour
the United States for six years.
Many scientists in the United States will have a chance to
examine Lucy in person. Not all scientists are happy, though.
Some think Lucy may become damaged. Rick Potts, from the
National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., has said
he wishes the skeleton had stayed protected in Ethiopia. Other
scientists think more people ought to see this important skeleton.
Stand Up Straight
Australopithecus Afarensis
What makes the skeleton so important? When Lucy was alive,
Skeleton, Called Lucy
long before humans ever walked Earth, she looked very much like
an ape. The way Lucy walked was not apelike, though. From
The 3.2 million year old
looking at the shape of her bones, scientists can tell
Australopithecus afarensis
that Lucy walked upright, just as people do.
skeleton, called Lucy, is
In 1974, paleontologist Donald Johanson found Lucy in
Ethiopia. Paleontologists study the remains of animals and plants
displayed at the Houston
that lived long ago. Johanson figured out how Lucy walked by
Museum of Natural Science in
looking at her hip bones and knee bones. The bones were
Houston, Texas. (Credit: AP
designed for holding a body erect.
Photo/Michael Stravato)
Johanson has gone to Texas to visit Lucy. He says the fossil is
fragile. Scientists must be careful with it. "You wouldn't want to
drop a fossil like this on a concrete floor, because it would shatter."
Just because the fossil is fragile doesn't mean it is in danger. "The bones are completely
mineralized because of the process of fossilization, where the bone is slowly replaced by stone,"
Johanson says. "You can't damage them by handling them."
Moving Bones
Dirk Van Tuerenhout is the curator of anthropology at the Houston museum where Lucy is on
display. Anthropology is the scientific study of human beings, including their ancestors. He says
that seeing Lucy's actual bones is important.
"People who have come to see her have left notes in the guest book saying that they would not
have come to see a plastic replica," Van Tuerenhout says. Museums often study replicas instead
of actual bones. "People have left the show crying because they are emotional to see her."
Early Humans
Name:__________________________________ Per:_____________
Johanson also felt emotional seeing Lucy's bones. When he found them more than 30 years
ago, he could tell right away they were not just the remains of an old ape. "And even now," he
says, "when I visited the exhibit, I think my heart beat a little faster when I walked in the room and
saw her again."
Ape or Human?
Lucy was not a human. Humans belong to the species Homo sapiens. Lucy's species is
named Australopithecus afarensis.
Lucy probably looked a lot like an ape and a bit like a human. Her arms dangled like an ape's,
but she had longer legs than apes do. She had a flat face with a big brow and a wide jaw. She
was probably very hairy.
Scientists are almost certain that Lucy was around 25 years old when she died. They could tell
from her jaw that she had wisdom teeth. In humans, wisdom teeth usually appear when people
are between 16 and 25. Even though Lucy was an adult, she was only 3½ feet tall.
Before Humans
Scientists learn about human ancestors by studying fossils. They can tell that apelike creatures
began to look more human over millions of years. However, tracing the human branch of the
family tree is not easy. Lots of skeletons that have been found look as though they might be
human ancestors. Scientists can't know for sure, however, if they really were direct ancestors or
just distant relatives. Some old skeletons are from Australopithecus afarensis and Homo habilis.
Some more recent skeletons belong to Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalensis.
Lots of Lucys
Scientists gave the skeleton the nickname "Lucy" after a song by the Beatles called "Lucy in
the Sky With Diamonds." Since Lucy's discovery 33 years ago, many other examples of her
species have been found in Africa.
Recently, scientists found the skeleton of an infant that has been called "Lucy's baby." It is not
really Lucy's baby, but it is the same species. "We now have close to 400 specimens of individuals
who are of Lucy's species," says Donald Johanson. "Because of
this, Australopithecus afarensis, which lived some time between 3 [million] and 3.8 million years
ago, has become one of the best-known species of one of our distant ancestors."
An Artist's Idea of Lucy's World
The part of Africa where Lucy's bones were found is dry. When Lucy was alive, the area had
more water and lots of plants.
Amazing Ape
Australopithecus walked upright like a human. It might have carried its babies as a human
does too. The babies probably couldn't grab well with their feet as monkeys do.
Reaching Out
Long arms might have helped Australopithecus climb trees. Some scientists think it slept in
trees for protection.
Eat or Be Eaten?
Australopithecus ate a lot of plants. It was probably eaten by big meat eaters in Africa,
including crocodiles.