41st Anniversary Discovery of Lucy The Australopithecus

On November 24^th 1973, Paleoanthropologist Donald Johansson and his crew discovered the oldest human fossil in Hadar, Ethiopia. On November 24^th, 2015 it was the 41^st anniversary of her discovery.

Lucy lived in Ethiopia about 3.2 million years ago, that makes her the oldest human fossil to date. Her skeleton was discovered remarkably intact about %40 of her bones were discovered as opposed to random pieces of skeleton. Researchers tell us she was bipedal, meaning she walked upright like humans today. She had a small brain and canine teeth. She was a full grown female specimen of about 3.7ft (1.1m) of height and approximately 64lb (29kg) of weight. Nobody knows exactly how or why Lucy died but there is some evidence of a mark of a tooth on her pelvic bone, which could have been the cause of her death but researchers don’t give a specific answer due to the fact that she could have been bitten after she died of another cause.

Lucy acquired her name because of the song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” by The Beatles which Donald Johansson was listening to right after he found her. In a documentary about the discovery of Lucy, he states “Suddenly she became a person” and 41 years later she is still the most famous fossil around the world.

Lucy still resides in Ethiopia, near to where she was found. The skeleton was taken on a tour around the United States from 2007 to 2013, although scientists were being very cautious with the transportation of the skeleton because it is extremely fragile. Thankfully they managed to keep it save for 6 years straight.  Who would have thought that an Australopithecus that lived millions of years ago would still live amongst us in the present day.