Tuesday, 24 November 2015

Who is Lucy the Australopithecus





The 41st anniversary of the discovery of 'Lucy' has been celebrated with a Google Doodle.

'Lucy' is a collection of fossilised bones that once made up the skeleton of a hominid from the Australopithecus afarensis species. She lived in Ethiopia 3.2 million years ago.

First discovered in 1973, the discovery was remarkably 'complete' - 40 per cent of her skeleton was found intact, rather than just a handful of incomplete and damaged fossils that usually make up remains of a similar age.

Shortly after being dug up, it became apparent that Lucy was a significant find with researchers saying she belonged to a previously unknown species.

In honour of 'Lucy', here are five things you may not know about her:

1. She was named after The Beatles song 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'

After making the discovery, paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson headed back to his campsite with his team.

He put a Beatles cassette in the tape player, and when Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds came on, one of the group said he should call the skeleton Lucy.

"All of a sudden, she became a person,"

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