50 Years Later, Lucy's Discovery Still Shapes Human Evolution Studies

The 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis fossil transformed our understanding of bipedalism and early human ancestors.

Lucy, discovered in Ethiopia in 1974, is a 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis fossil representing an early human ancestor.
The skeleton, about 40% complete, provided unprecedented evidence of upright walking long before the development of larger brains in human evolution.
Lucy’s discovery extended the timeline of known hominin fossils by nearly a million years, reshaping the study of early human origins.
Her blend of ape-like and human-like traits, including a small brain and adaptations for bipedalism, highlighted the complexity of human evolution.
Today, Lucy remains a key figure in understanding the bushy, diverse family tree of human ancestors, with her fossil housed in Ethiopia’s National Museum.