Lucy
The Missing Link?
Lucy is arguably the most famous fossil of all time. She was discovered in Ethiopia in 1974 by Donald Johanson. Her species is Australopithecus afarensis (Southern Ape from Afar). She lived 3.2 million years ago and often is called the "missing link." She is probably in our direct lineage between Ardi, who lived 4.4 million years ago, and our Homo genus ancestors, who emerged about 2 million years ago.
Lucy feet - "human-like"
Like Ardi, Lucy walked upright. However, unlike Ardi, she did not have an opposable big toe and was more "human-like" in that regard. Therefore, she spent a lot more time on the ground and relatively little in the trees. Her brain, however, was still small and her abilities were ape-like.
Click on links to other players in my journey below.
Ardi * Aubrey de Grey * Bill Joy * C. Owen Lovejoy * Carl Linneaus * Charles Darwin * CRISPR *
Daniel E. Koshland, Jr * Elizabeth Kolbert * Ernst Mayr * Eugene E. Harris * Gregor Mendel * Henry Markram *
Ian Tattersall * Jean-Baptiste Lamarck * John Markoff * Katherine Pollard * Kevin de Queiroz * Lucy *
McBrearty and Brooks * Miguel Nicolelis * Paul Allen * Paul Berg * R.A.Fisher * Scott Blois * Singularity *
Stephen Jay Gould * Svante Pååbo * Sydney Brenner * Terry Sejnowski * Theodosius Dobzhansky *