November 21, 2024: Half a century after her discovery in Ethiopia, the 3.18-million-year-old remains of Lucy, once considered “the grandmother of humanity,” continue to fascinate scientists, yielding new insights into the origins and evolution of human ancestors.
The fossilized bones of Lucy an Australopithecus afarensis remain preserved in the National Museum of Ethiopia. Discovered on November 24, 1974, in the Afar region by a team led by Maurice Taieb, Donald Johanson, and others, her skeleton represented a pivotal moment in paleoanthropology. At the time, the 52 bone fragments, which made up around 40% of her skeleton, were the most complete set of early human ancestor remains ever found.
A Symbol of Scientific Breakthrough
Initially referred to as A.L-288-1, Lucy was nicknamed after The Beatles’ song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” which played during the team’s celebrations. She measured just 1.1 meters (3.6 feet) in height and weighed around 29 kg (64 pounds), walking upright like modern humans but with traits that suggested time spent in trees.
For Sahleselasie Melaku, head of the museum’s paleontology department, Lucy’s discovery marked the end of a “dark age” in the understanding of human evolution. “The impact of the discovery was very big in the discipline and even the whole world,” Melaku said.
Challenging the Human Family Tree
While Lucy was long celebrated as the oldest known member of the human lineage, newer discoveries have complicated her status. Fossils such as the Toumai skull found in Chad in 2001 dated to six to seven million years old suggest the human family tree extends even further back than previously thought.
Paleontologists now describe Lucy as more of a distant cousin than a direct ancestor, with findings from Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Africa pointing to a more diverse evolutionary history.
Ongoing Research and Mysteries
Lucy has inspired numerous studies, each uncovering details about her life and death. Research in 2016 proposed she spent a third of her time in trees and may have died from a fall. A 2022 study on her pelvis suggested that Australopithecus newborns had immature brains, requiring extensive parental care, much like modern humans.
Despite these findings, many questions remain. “There is so much more to learn about the early lives of human ancestors,” said Melaku.
Today, Lucy’s skeleton no longer travels outside Ethiopia, but she continues to inspire research worldwide. “Material as exceptional as this plays a driving role in the evolution of research,” said Jean-Renaud Boisserie, a French paleontologist.
As technology advances, scientists hope to uncover even more about Lucy’s world, solidifying her status as a cornerstone of human history.
