She walked like us, but around 3.2 million years ago.
For five years now, a life-sized fleshed-out model of a female Australopithecus aferensis known as "Lucy", has stood in our Morian Hall of Paleontology. Let's talk about why Lucy is so important.
Her skeleton was nearly 40% complete, which is exceptional for such an ancient human ancestor. Studying her spine, pelvis, and leg bones revealed strong adaptations for bipedalism, while studying her long arms and curved fingers suggested she was adept at climbing trees--making her a kind of evolutionary bridge.
Lucy also debunked the theory of the time (1970s) that human ancestors developed large brains before learning to walk upright. She was in fact walking upright, but her brain (around 400-500 cubic centimeters) is about the same size of a chimpanzee's. She reversed the order.
Lucy may be the most famous australopithecine, but she is not the only representative of this species. Many other Australopithecus afarensis have been found eastern Africa. Living between 3.85 and 2.95 million years ago, they were small compared to modern humans, with females often substantially smaller than males. She measured about three-and-a-half feet tall and probably weighed about 60 to 65 pounds.
HMNS - Houston Museum of Natural Science
She walked like us, but around 3.2 million years ago.
For five years now, a life-sized fleshed-out model of a female Australopithecus aferensis known as "Lucy", has stood in our Morian Hall of Paleontology. Let's talk about why Lucy is so important.
Her skeleton was nearly 40% complete, which is exceptional for such an ancient human ancestor. Studying her spine, pelvis, and leg bones revealed strong adaptations for bipedalism, while studying her long arms and curved fingers suggested she was adept at climbing trees--making her a kind of evolutionary bridge.
Lucy also debunked the theory of the time (1970s) that human ancestors developed large brains before learning to walk upright. She was in fact walking upright, but her brain (around 400-500 cubic centimeters) is about the same size of a chimpanzee's. She reversed the order.
Lucy may be the most famous australopithecine, but she is not the only representative of this species. Many other Australopithecus afarensis have been found eastern Africa. Living between 3.85 and 2.95 million years ago, they were small compared to modern humans, with females often substantially smaller than males. She measured about three-and-a-half feet tall and probably weighed about 60 to 65 pounds.
#HMNS #anthropology #science #lucy
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