Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Because of its relative completeness, Lucy's skeleton has provided the
stood about three and a half feet tall, and as far as one can tell from the
cranial fragments and other remains attributed to her species, her cra-
nial capacity and relative brain size were within the range for modern
chimpanzees. AL 288-1 had apelike body proportions that included very
short legs and relatively long arms. Although she was clearly capable of
walking bipedally, the form of her shoulder and hands suggests to most
workers that she spent time climbing and moving through trees.
These hints from Lucy have been verified and added to by the recent
discovery of an even more complete skeleton from an infant
Australo-
pithecus afarensis
who lived in Ethiopia around 100,000 years before
ful little skeleton was discovered by a team that was led by Zeresenay
Alemseged about six miles from where Lucy was recovered. Unlike
Lucy's remains, the skeleton of this baby has a face, much more of her
hands, a hyoid bone from the throat, and a foot. Dikika's brain size was
comparable to that of a similarly aged chimpanzee, and her hyoid bone
also appears apelike rather than humanlike. She had a long face with a
flat nose. The shape of her shoulder resembled that of a young gorilla,
and her fingers were almost as long and curved as a chimpanzee's, both
of which reinforce the idea that
Australopithecus afarensis
could climb trees.
Nevertheless, the baby's knee, legs, and foot showed that she walked on
two legs. As Zeresenay put it, “I see
A. afarensis
as foraging bipeds but
The sample of
Australopithecus afarensis
partial skeletons recently grew
with the announcement of a headless adult male
A. afarensis
that was dis-
covered by Alemayehu Asfaw in the same part of Ethiopia where Lucy
specimen (designated KDS-VP-1/1) was significantly larger than Lucy,
which explains its nickname Kadanuumuu, which means “big man” in
been larger than females to a greater degree than in modern humans.
