Australopithecus afarensis
Australopithecus afarensis is an extinct hominid. It lived between 3.9 and 2.9 million years ago. A. afarensis was similar to slightly later Australopithecus africanus. It had a slender build.
| Australopithecus afarensis ("Lucy") Temporal range: Pliocene
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Lucy replica, Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Subfamily: | |
| Genus: | |
| Binomial name | |
| †Australopithecus afarensis | |
A. afarensis may be more closely related to the genus Homo than A. africanus. Homo includes the modern human species, Homo sapiens.[1][2]
The most famous fossil is the partial skeleton named Lucy (3.2 million years old) found by Donald Johanson and colleagues, who, in celebration of their find, repeatedly played the Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.[1][2]
Australopithecus Afarensis Media
Mandíbula de Australopithecus afarensis, LH 4. Réplica*Original: Laetoli (Tanzania)*3,6 millones de años*Museo Nacional de Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania*Réplica: Colección privada (Madrid) Exhibido en exposición temporal, "La cuna de la humanidad", en el Museo Arqueológico de Regional de Madrid
Locations of A. afarensis sites
"Lucy" skeleton
DIK-1-1 skeleton; notice the diverging left big toe bone
Diagram comparing birthing mechanisms of a chimpanzee (left), A. afarensis (middle) and a modern human (right)
,_3,3_milioni_di_anni_fa.jpg)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Johanson D.C. & Maitland A.E. 1981. Lucy: the beginning of humankind. St Albans: Granada, 283–297. ISBN 0-586-08437-1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wood B.A. 1994. Evolution of australopithecines. In Jones S. Martin R. & Pilbeam D. (eds) 2004. The Cambridge encyclopedia of human evolution. 8th ed, Cambridge University Press, 234. ISBN 0-521-46786-1