Did You see Google's Doodle Today? Know Our Real Birth? Lucy Is Eve or Eve Is Imaginary?
Who is Lucy the Australopithecus?
As honored in today's Google Doodle, 24 November is the 41st anniversary of the discovery of 'Lucy', the name given to a collection of fossilised bones that once made up the skeleton of a hominid from the Australopithecus afarensis species, who lived in Ethiopia 3.2 million years ago.
First discovered in 1973, the discovery of Lucy was remarkably 'complete' - 40 percent 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
First discovered in 1973, the discovery of Lucy was remarkably 'complete' - 40 percent 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
Named after the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” the 3.2 million-year-old remains belong to the Australopithecus afarensisfamily, a species that shares both human and ape characteristics, according to the Telegraph.
Lucy walked upright
One of the most important things about Lucy is the way she walked - by studying her bones, in particular the structure of her knee and spine curvature, scientists were able to discover that she spent most of her time walking on two legs - a striking human-like trait.
No-one knows how she died
The few clues we have about Lucy's cause of death can only rule things out, rather than providing solid answers.
There's not much evidence of teeth-marks anywhere on her skeleton, suggesting she was not killed and scavenged by other animals after she died.
The Doodle, shows an Australopithecus afarensis walking between a chimpanzee and a human, marking the transition between the two species.
However, the real skeleton was taken on a tour of the US from 2007-2013, despite fears that the tour would damage it.
A number of other plaster casts of Lucy's remains are dotted around the world.
She was pretty short
Australopithecus afarensis may have walked upright and looked somewhat human-like, but they were much smaller than we are.
Lucy died as a young but fully grown adult, and stood only 1.1m (3.7ft) tall and weighed in at a paltry 29kg (64lb).
Source: Independent | Time
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