Australopithecus afarensis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Australopithecus afarensis ("Lucy")Temporal range: Pliocene
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| Lucy replica, Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City | |
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| †Australopithecus afarensis Johanson & White, 1978
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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.
A. afarensis may be more closely related to the genus Homo than A. africanus. Homo includes the modern human species, Homo sapiens.
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.
Images for kids
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The lectotype LH 4
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Locations of A. afarensis sites
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"Lucy" skeleton
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DIK-1-1 skeleton; notice the diverging left big toe bone
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Diagram comparing birthing mechanisms of a chimpanzee (left), A. afarensis (middle) and a modern human (right)
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See also
In Spanish: Australopithecus afarensis para niños
