Australopithecus afarensis fossil hominid (Lucy skeleton) (Hadar Formation, Pliocene, 3.2 Ma; Hadar area, Afar Triangle, northern Ethiopia, eastern Africa) 3

            Australopithecus afarensis Johanson & White, 1978 - fossil hominid from the Pliocene of eastern Africa. (replica of AL 288-1 (National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) on public display, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, Ohio, USA)

Hominids are humans.  Fossils of the human family are known back to the Miocene, with many species known from Pliocene and Pleistocene sedimentary rocks.  Only one species in Family Hominidae is alive today, in the late Holocene - that's us, Homo sapiens.  Hominids originated in Africa - that's where the oldest human fossils occur.  Everyone on Earth is African, from an evolutionary point-of-view.

The species Australopithecus afarensis existed from about 2.9 to 3.9 million years ago, during the Pliocene, in eastern Africa.  This is the discovery specimen, a partial skeleton nicknamed "Lucy" (or sometimes "Larry").  Multiple skeletons have been found together.  The adult height was about the same as a modern 6-year old child.  The femur and hip bones (seen here), plus the foot bones and toe bones of various specimens show that this was an upright, obligate biped - it was an early human walking on two legs.  Trace fossils also indicate this - footprints of an obligate biped that is probably Australopithecus afarensis occur in a ~3.6 to 3.7 million year old volcanic tuff in Tanzania, eastern Africa.

Skulls of this species have a brow ridge, a prognathic face (= projecting jaw), and teeth intermediate in morphology between apes and modern humans.  Compared with modern humans, Australopithecus afarensis had smaller bodies, relatively smaller brains, and large molar teeth.  It was probably sexually dimorphic.  This hominid generally lived in forests and was likely a frugivore (fruit eater) and leaf eater.

Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Mammalia, Primates, Hominidae

Stratigraphy: Hadar Formation, Pliocene, 3.2 Ma

Locality: Hadar area, Afar Triangle, northern Ethiopia, eastern Africa

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Taken on: July 22, 2006

Tags:

Australopithecus

afarensis

Ethiopia

fossil

hominid

Lucy

skeleton « less

Sets appears in: • Ethiopia Rocks, Minerals, Fossils • Pliocene Rocks & Fossils more » • Hominids & Hominid Fossils « less

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