AL 288-1, commonly known as Lucy or Dinkʼinesh (Amharic: ድንቅ ነሽ, lit. 'you are marvellous'), is a collection of several hundred pieces of fossilized bone comprising 40 percent of the skeleton of a female of the hominin species Australopithecus afarensis.

As in a modern human’s skeleton, Lucy's bones are rife with evidence clearly pointing to bipedality. Her distal femur shows several traits unique to bipedality. The shaft is angled relative to the condyles (knee joint surfaces), which allows bipeds to balance on one leg at …

Australopithecus afarensis is one of the best-known early hominins thanks to an extraordinary skeleton known as Lucy. Find out what we've learned about this species and important fossils. How do we know that Lucy and her species walked upright? How do we know Lucy was female? How did she die?

Jan 8, 2025 · Lucy, nickname for a remarkably complete (40 percent intact) hominin skeleton found by American paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson at at the fossil site Hadar in Ethiopia on Nov. 24, 1974, and dated to 3.2 million years ago.

Nov 22, 2024 · They consist of fossilised dental remains, skull fragments, parts of the pelvis and femur that make up the world's most famous Australopithecus afarensis, Lucy. The hominid was discovered on November 24, 1974, in the Afar region of northeast Ethiopia by a team of scientists led by Maurice Taieb, Yves Coppens, Donald Johanson, Jon Kalb, and ...

Nov 11, 2024 · Lucy was found in 1974, almost exactly half a century after anatomist and anthropologist Raymond Dart had recognized the significance of a skull of a juvenile hominin found in Taung, South Africa.

Aug 1, 2024 · One of the most remarkable aspects of Lucy’s skeleton is the combination of traits that it exhibits, which provide crucial evidence about the evolutionary path of early hominins. Her skull is relatively small and apelike, indicating a brain size similar to that of non-hominin apes.

Oct 15, 2024 · On November 24, 1974, Donald C. Johanson discovered the nearly 3.2-million-year-old Lucy skeleton on one of the hillsides. A stake marks the spot where the fossil was found.

Jan 3, 2024 · ‘Lucy’ (AL 288-1) is an adult female, 3.2 million-year-old A. afarensis skeleton found at Hadar, Ethiopia. Because she could walk upright on the ground and climb trees, she and other members of her species were able to use resources from woodlands, grasslands, and other diverse environments.

Lucy is arguably the most famous of all early human individuals due to her age and relative completeness. Partial skeletons like hers allow us to learn much more about early human body size, shape, and locomotion than more fragmentary and sparse remains.