The Beginning
Approximately 3.2 million years ago, the world was an entirely different place. Jungles dominated the land, spreading acres upon acres of dense rainforests and varied climates. Insects were present, buzzing never-ending chirps and cricks throughout the night. Stars were brightly apparent in the evening sky, crossing and dotting the skies with immaculate mysteries. Deep in the forest, there stood a single Southern Ape, surrounded by the natural beauties of Ethiopia before humans emerged and eventually industrialized and settled in the area.
She was standing on her own two feet, her beady eyes piercing into the darkness below her, scanning for prey and those who hunted her. This ape had a human-like face and bone structure, yet hair covered nearly every part of her body. Who was this animal exactly?
The ape slowly leaned back on the tree branch, relaxing with peace and tranquility. It was virtually a perfect world for her. Her scientific family, along with three others, practically governed the forests around her. They were living like true kings in nature, with their human-like hands that could tightly grasp tree branches and their lanky legs that could carry them anywhere. Her cheekbones were far away from one another, her mouth and jaw were both jutting out.
As she was slowly dozing off into the night, she felt a sudden tree shake. A bird suddenly swooped beneath her, quickly frightening her. She stood up and attempted to grab a tree branch that stooped just above her head. Another flock of birds arose from a tangled bush beneath her, surprising her and causing her to miss the branch. She toppled over backward and lost control of her body and stance. She could feel the wind brushing past her back; the ape was going to have a tough fight with gravity.
Scientists, in 1974, uncovered the nearly perfectly preserved bones of one of humanity's most renowned ancestors in Ethiopia. They eventually deduced that the cause of death was likely from a fall from a tall tree.
She was given the name, Lucy.
Who Is Lucy?
Lucy is a Southern ape, scientifically known as a female Australopithecus afarensis. She existed 3 million years ago along with groups of other apes that reigned in jungle areas where there were humid rain and sometimes harsh sunlight. Why was she a significant part of the study of human evolution?
Lucy is one of humanity’s ancient ancestors, and it is common knowledge that we are derived from their DNA. Nearly a complete collection of her fossils were found in Ethiopia, amazingly preserved incredibly well under the ground. Lucy helped cement the fact that archeologists and scientists have been trying to push out: Humans were initially involved in Africa. Lucy proved that walking on two legs upright was apparent even three million years ago. She is the foundation of evidence for an evolutionary bridge, which means a part of an evolutionary process that helped create/build a new skillset or physical asset. Since Lucy was discovered in almost perfect conditions, we have more knowledge of what life was like ages ago, which can dramatically improve historical accuracy.
The most important thing about this discovery is that it completely tore a hole in the scientific field of evolutionary theory. The community originally thought that our human ancestors first became intelligent before we were able to stand upright. Although this may be a little offensive to Lucy’s kind, it is true. Therefore, this implied that walking was a more important evolutionary step than cerebral power.
What’s In It For Us?
After Lucy’s discovery, she became the oldest potential ancestor for mankind, among with the Taung Child and UR 501 Jawbone. Lucy’s physical features have never been seen before, with her apelike jaw and teeth, and her braincase. The reflection of her pelvis obviously denoted that Lucy walked upright. This helped prove that early hominids did not require advanced brainpower to walk upright. She spent most of her time above in trees, and that probably meant being above in trees helped develop her bipedal walking abilities.
In conclusion, Lucy was pivotal for the advancements in archeology and history. We now understood how early walking upright was, and the evolutionary developments that happened. Before Lucy was created, we thought that having more brainpower the most crucial element of development for humans, but now we know that it is false.
By studying and analyzing Lucy’s remains, we can successfully obtain more information of how life was back then. We now know what kind of food her species ate and their hunting patterns. Her discovery in Etiopia was essential in evolutionary theory.