Australopithecus Afarensis

Description

The Australopithecus Afarensis lived about 3.6 million years ago to 3.3 million years ago around South and Eastern Africa. The Australopithecus Afarensis name means “southern ape,” and refers to where the first fossils were found. There is no concluding evidence that these hominins used tools but has been assumes they used simple tools to some extent. Carbon isotope values in tooth enamel reveal that this hominin species and a diverse diet the included savannah-based food such as grasses, leaves and fruits from trees and shrubs. With the adaption of living in both the trees and on the ground helped them survive as the climate and environment changed.

Appearence

Australopithecus Afarensis had a mixture of ape-like and human-like features. They had a flat nose with a projecting lower jaw. They were small-bodied, standing around 3 feet to 5.5 feet, and were small brained about one-third the size of a modern human brain. Australopithecus Afarensis shoe strong sexual dimorphism in that females and males body sizes are much different. They were also capable of upright walking but not adapted well enough to travel long distances. There still had curved toe bones and relatively long arms that indicate they were still climbing trees.

Lucy

The most famous fossil is Lucy, the first Australopithecus skeleton found dating back to 3.2 million years ago, was discovered by Donald Johanson on November 24, 1974, at the site of Hadar in Ethiopia. After hours of excavation, several fragments of bone had been recovered making up 40 percent of Lucy’s skeleton or 47 out of 207 bones. At her time of discovery, she was by far the most complete early hominin known. She was identified as female because of her size and the shape of the pelvic bone. Lucy measured at just around four foot 2 inches and would have weighed around 62 pounds. She is assumed to be a young adult due to an erupted wisdom tooth and the fact that her bones were fused. She was named after the Beetles’ song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” that was very popular to base camp. Finding Lucy was very important to better understand where our species came from and how Homo Sapiens evolved.

LAETOLI FOOTPRINTS

A series of 3.6 million-year old footprints left in volcanic ash by an early hominin were discovered in Laetoli, Tanzania. The 69 prints were made by two adults that appear to have walked side by side. They were likely made by Australopithecus afarensis individuals and is the earlies evidence of upright walking by our ancestors. One set was made by a large male and the other by a smaller female. Inside the larger prints were a smaller print from a third individual, possibly a child. The prints indicate they walked like the modern human, body upright, legs striding side by side. Unlike the feet of a chimpanzee, which have a splayed toe that separates from the foot like a thumb, the Laetoli tracks are made by feet with all the toes parallel to the axis of the foot. The significance of this discovery has lead that these creatures are spending less time in the trees climbing and are showing how the ideal bipedalism is evolving slowly.