September 20, 2006

scientists react to discovery of early human fossil remains as published in Nature

The discovery of a fossilised juvenile Australopithecus afarensis in Ethiopia was reported in Nature today, it is believed to be from the same species as the key specimen, named ‘Lucy’, found in 1974.

Dr Louise Humphrey, Natural History Museum, London, said:

“This infant australopithecine is a very valuable addition to the hominin fossil record. The skeleton is exceptionally well preserved and promises to reveal an enormous amount of information about the lifestyle of this young australopithecine. The skeleton and dentition can provide remarkable insights into how australopithecines developed and advance our understanding of when modern human growth and life history patterns evolved.”

Professor Chris Stringer, Natural History Museum, London, said:

“This is a very special find – it’s not until we come to intentional burials by Neanderthals and modern humans in the last 100,000 years that we otherwise find such well-preserved infant remains, because of their fragility. The new fossil reinforces the view that the australopithecines (southern apes) were human-like in the lower part of the body (hips, legs, feet) but still rather ape-like in the upper part (shoulder, arms, hands), walking on two legs when on the ground, but retaining the ability to climb in the trees…”

Dr Charles Lockwood, Department of Anthropology, UCL, said:

“It’s impossible to overstate the importance of this specimen. It is unique for an early hominid in being so complete, and because it is a child it will address some of the most pressing questions about the evolution of human development – how fast and in what ways the different parts of the human skeleton grow. There is a remarkable amount of new information here.”

Fred Spoor, Professor of Evolutionary Anatomy, UCL, said:

“This unique discovery is the first infant skeleton of an early human ancestor ever found. It is remarkably complete, and will give us detailed insight into how our distant relatives grew up and behaved. This at a time of human evolution when they looked a good deal more like bipedal chimpanzees than like us.”

Dr Simon Underdown, Senior Lecturer In Biological Anthropology, Oxford Brookes University, said:

“This is a massively exciting discovery of a juvenile ‘Lucy’ (Australopithecus afarensis). For the first time we can start to understand how one of our distant evolutionary ancestors grew from child to adult nearly 3 and a half million years ago. The skeleton shows that Australopithecus afarensis clearly walked on two feet but the upper body hints at lots of time spent climbing in the trees. This tremendous fossil will make us challenge many of the ideas we have about how and why we came to walk on two feet.”