Lucy, a Australopithecus Afarensis who lived 3 million years ago
After all, how was our great-grandmother, Lucy’s last day? It is known that he was on the edge of a lake, had a bite wound to his pelvis and several fractures to his limbs.
Lucy left the house. From a distance, it would appear that a small child was making their way through the swaying grass along a vast lago.
Ours may have looked warily over her shoulder as she walked, alert for saber-toothed cats or hyenas. It may have used its strong arms to climb the bushes of nearby trees, looking for food. Or simply rested on the banks of the crocodile-infested waters, drinking water on a hot day. But certainly this had no idea that was his last day on Earth.
About 3.2 million years later, 50 years ago, his skeleton was unearthed by paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson.
The incredibly complete fossil has been nicknamed “Lucy.” And its remarkable species, Australopithecus afarensismay have been our direct ancestor – so much so that Lucy is commonly called by our great-grandmother.
As , these discoveries have transformed our understanding of humanity’s tangled family tree.
Lucy’s last day
Investigations say that his last day may have been full of company, having also involved a incessant search for food. It is also said that that day was dominated by the ever-present fear of predators.
“I suspect that the last day of Lucy’s life was full of danger,” Donald Johanson explained to Live Science.
Lucy and her kind would have spent a significant part of their time avoiding becoming another animal’s lunch.
“These small creatures would have been a good appetizer for a saber-tooth, a big cat or a hyena,” explained the paleoanthropologist.
It is not clear whether she was alone or in a group when Lucy went in search of food. There is, however, no doubt that he spent a large part of his day looking for food.
It is very likely that you ate some basic foods, such as grasses, roots and insects, as demonstrated by chemical elements in your tooth enamel. It may have found bird or turtle eggs and readily devoured them as tasty, protein-rich treats.
Lucy, “by the river”
But one thing has already been discovered. Lucy was at the edge of a lake. It is not known exactly why he was there. Maybe I was thirsty, or maybe it was a great place to forage for food.
But There are two main theories about how she died.
“Maybe she was down there, in the water, and – wham! – a crocodile appeared…“, said Johanson. “Crocodiles are incredibly fast and it’s a dangerous place if you’re a small creature like Lucy,” he continued.
In their discovery, Johanson and his team found a carnivore tooth mark on Lucy’s pelvisand it had not healed, meaning it occurred around the time of his death.
“Although the animal that made the mark has not been conclusively identified, we know that australopithecines were preyed upon because there are a number of examples,” explained Johanson.
In a study in 2016, in NatureJohn Kappelman, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Texas, and his colleagues presented an alternative ending for Lucy: a catastrophic fall from a tree.
Based on high-resolution CT scans and 3D reconstructions of Lucy’s skeleton, fractures to the right shoulder, ribs and knees which were different from the typical fractures that occur in fossils crushed under the weight of earth and rocks for millions of years.
The types of fractures Lucy suffered are consistent with a fall from a considerable height, perhaps from a tall tree. where was he looking for food?.
“She hit with her feet and then her hands, which means she was conscious when she hit the ground. I don’t think she survived very long,” said Kappelman, quoted by Live Science.
It is unclear whether she was alone when she died. But even if she was accompanied, she probably wouldn’t be saved.
There is no evidence that, at that time, the bodies of the A. afarensis were treated.
