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Lucy

Australopithecus Afarensis, Lucy. Source: Carlos Lorenzo/flickr

How Did Our Most Famous Ancient Ancestor Really Die? (Video)

In the prehistoric landscape of eastern Africa, approximately 3 million years ago, a significant event unfolded, shaping the fate of one of our most famous ancestors, Australopithecus afarensis ,...
Representation of an Australopithecus family. The evolution of human birth takes us back to Australopithecus afarensis like “Lucy” that may have required some help in childbirth. Source:  Andrii/Adobe Stock

The Evolution of Human Birth: An Incredible Story a Million Years in the Making

Australopithecus afarensis, a human ancestor could have given birth in a way that combines the childbirth practices of chimpanzees and human beings a team of scientists have claimed. They reported...
3D computer generated illustration of male Australopithecus afarensis. Source: SciePro/Adobe Stock

Human Ancestor ‘Lucy’ Was Athletic and Walked Fully Upright, Finds New Study

In a groundbreaking discovery that rewrites our understanding of human evolution, a new study utilizing advanced 3D muscle reconstruction has revealed that Lucy, the 3.2-million-year-old fossil of an...
A reconstruction of Lucy, an Australopithecus afarensis. Source: procy_ab / Adobe Stock.

The Life and Death of ‘Lucy’ on The Prehistoric Savanna (Video)

Imagine a world vastly different from ours, teeming with creatures long extinct, and ancient human ancestors struggling to survive against all odds. That was the African savanna roughly 3.5 million...
Two of the four different Australopithecus crania that were found in the Sterkfontein caves, South Africa. Source: Jason Heaton and Ronald Clarke, in cooperation with the Ditsong Museum of Natural History / Wits University

Sterkfontein Hominin Fossils Redated To A Million Years Older

Researchers at the Sterkfontein Caves in South Africa, famous for the discovery of ‘Little Foot’ and a ream of other ancient hominin remains, have yielded dating results that could overturn the...
It Really Was a Planet of the Apes Two Million Years Ago

It Really Was a Planet of the Apes Two Million Years Ago

New genetic research shows early humans’ brains were “much more ape-like” than what is measured in modern humans. What this means is that the first waves of human ancestors to migrate out of Africa...
Little Foot’s skull, with the arrow on the right-hand image indicating the specimen’s atlas.      Source: R.J. Clarke/Author supplied

Little Foot’s Skeleton Adds To Human Evolution Story

Amélie Beaudet / The Conversation In his book Wonderful Life , Professor Stephen Jay Gould – an evolutionary biologist, paleontologist and widely-read popular science author – described the evolution...
Great Ape

Lucy Wasn’t As Smart As Today’s Great Apes

Researchers have found that early humans such as the famous ‘Lucy’ were not as smart as the great apes. Using new methods, they have been able to determine that early humans did not have the same...
Facial reconstruction of Australopithecus anamensis by John Gurche made possible through generous contribution by Susan and George Klein. Photograph by Matt Crow, courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

Australopithecus anamensis Skull Discovery: A ‘Game Changer’ in Human Evolution

Before the famed Australopithecus afarensis Lucy roamed the land of Ethiopia some 3.18 million years ago, one of her progenitors, an Australopithecus anamensis, met its demise in what is now the...
Portrait of a Maasai warrior in Africa, Diani beach    Source: shangarey / Adobe Stock

The Maasai Legend Behind Ancient Hominin Footprints in Tanzania

In 1976 paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey and other scientists reported that they’d found ancient hominin footprints at a site in Laetoli, northeastern Tanzania. The footprints were frozen in volcanic...
Skull of Malapa hominid 1 (MH1) from South Africa, named "Karabo". The combined fossil remains of this juvenile male is designated as the holotype for Australopithecus sediba.  Source: CC BY-SA 4.0

Statistical Date Analysis Concludes That 'Ancient Human' Was Not Our Ancestor

One of the great issues in all of science is the search for the direct ancestor of modern humans. Many species of hominin have been put forward down the years and a recently uncovered species...
Penablanca, Cagayan Province, Philippines, near the entrance to the limestone Callao Cave where there is evidence of a new human species. Source: Michael / Adobe. Inset: A foot bone from Homo luzonensis. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

How Much Evidence is Enough to Declare a New Species of Human from a Philippines Cave Site?

The announcement of a new species of ancient human (more correctly hominin) from the Philippines , reported today in Nature , will cause a lot of head-shaking among anthropologists and archaeologists...
Little Foot skull still in place in the Sterkfontein cave.

Scientists estimate fossilized pre-human creature lived 3.67 million years ago

In 2015, scientists announced an earlier time frame than previously estimated for the lifetime of an early proto-human dubbed Little Foot – as much as 3.67 million years ago. The nearly complete...
Model of the foot (with missing elements) of the Australopithecus afarensis Dikika child.

The Dikka Child Toddled Over the Ethiopian Landscape 200,000 Years Before Lucy

More than 3 million years ago, our ancient human ancestors, including their toddler-aged children, were standing on two feet and walking upright, according to a new study published in Science...
The Death of Lucy: Has a 3.2 Million-Year-Old Mystery Finally Been Solved?

The Death of Lucy: Has a 3.2 Million-Year-Old Mystery Finally Been Solved?

Scientists analyzing the bones of the Australopithecus Afarensis skeleton known as ‘Lucy’ have suggested that she died from injuries sustained by falling from a tree. They say that fractures present...
A. afarensis reconstruction, an adult left ulna of Australopithecus afarensis. Several fossilized teeth have also been found in the Kantis site. Credit: Image courtesy of Kyoto University

Australopithecus Fossils Found East of the Great Rift Valley

New fossils from Kenya suggest that an early hominid species -- Australopithecus afarensis -- lived far eastward beyond the Great Rift Valley and much farther than previously thought. An...
Top 10 Human Origins Discoveries in 2015

Top 10 Human Origins Discoveries in 2015

In 2015, DNA analysis provided deeper insight into the lives of our ancient ancestors. Studies of their appearance, diet, living conditions, and the human family tree, were all hot topics. Research...
Casts of the jaws of Australopithecus deyiremeda

Fossil Find Reveals New Species of Early Human - Origins of Modern Man Gets Crowded

Make room, Lucy! A fossil of a 3.4 million-year-old hominin has been found by researchers who say this could be an entirely new species of early human, previously unknown to history. This new and...
The 2.8 million-year-old fossilized jawbone with small teeth which may be a transitional fossil between primitive and modern man

Jawbone found in Ethiopia set to rewrite history, push back origins of humans

An extraordinary fossil find in the desert of Ethiopia is pushing back the dawn of humankind by approximately half a million years, and rewriting what we know about the evolutionary branching that...