Abstract Covering Lucy’s discovery, her physical attributes, and the astounding significance of Lucy to the human family tree; this paper was written to explain it all and educate the audience on what a crucial puzzle piece Lucy has come to be to anthropologist everywhere. First I will explain who found Lucy, where she was discovered, and when she was uncovered. I will then write about Lucy herself. I will describe her age, size, and how her gender was determined. Last but not least, I will explain how we know Lucy is a hominid, where she lies in the hominid line, and the significance of Lucy’s discovery to anthropology.

Lucy On the morning of November 24th, 1974, Dr. Donald Johanson found the remains of a hominid that would shake the world of anthropology. Then a University professor, Johanson was on an expedition to Hadar, Ethiopia. Although this site was a proven haven of early fossil remains, Johanson had no idea he was about to make the discovery of a lifetime. Dr. Donald Johanson’s discovery of Australopithecus afarensis in Hadar, Ethiopia is a crucial piece to the puzzle of the human family tree. In this paper, I will not only discuss the 3.18 million year old “Lucy”, but I will also explain the significance of her revolutionary discovery to the world of anthropology and the hominid line.
Being several weeks into his third expedition to Hadar, Ethiopia, finding Lucy was no small feat for Dr. Johanson. At the time, Johanson was a professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland who had visited this site several times before (Andrews, 2014). Johanson decided on a hunch to accompany Gray on a trip to scout a nearby site. After finding just animal teeth and bones the two decided to take a detour on the way back and while passing through a gully, Johanson saw what resembled an elbow bone. After uncovering the elbow, some vertebrae, ribs, and a thighbone, the two hurried back to camp to announce their finding. The next few days were completely devoted to digging and searching for more of Lucy. This team effort paid off substantially as they found dozens of intact pieces of leg, pelvis, hand and arm bones as well as a lower jawbone, teeth and part of the skull (Andrews, 2014). Now that the hard part was done, it was time to bring Lucy back to the United States for further study.
After an agreement with the Government of Ethiopia, an agreement was met that would allow Lucy to temporarily visit the United States for it was now time to estimate her age, size, and gender (“Lucy the Hominid”, n.d.). Lucy was found in the highest of three hominid-bearing sediments in the Hadar formation (Kimbel, n.d.). Although fossils cannot be specifically dated, the deposits in which they are found occasionally contain volcanic flows and ashes. These volcanic flows and ashes can be dated with the argon-argon dating technique, which gave us the estimation of roughly 3.18 million years old. Indicators such as her developed and slightly worn third molars, fused bones, and closed cranial sutures, implied that Lucy’s skeleton was fully developed. These findings led many to believe that Lucy was a young, fully matured, adult at her time of death. After configuring Lucy’s bones, she stood at three feet, eight inches. It is also estimated that she weighed in at sixty-five pounds. When the question of gender was asked, it was determined that Lucy was a female. Evidence from the Hadar material and other East African fossils had shown a substantial size difference between male and female Australopithecus afarensis. Along with her large pelvic opening, Lucy clearly fell under the female category. Evidence has also led anthropologist to believe that Lucy was bipedal. The rigors of bipedalism on the human skeleton lead to many signs of stress on the bones. So when the same signs appeared on the bones of Lucy, it was clear that she had been bipedal. After word of Lucy got out to the public, it was as if Lucy became a household name. Another question regularly asked is how Lucy died. One of the big clues to how Lucy died is the lack of damage to the bones, which would be a signs of an attack or scavenging. There is only one sign of damage on Lucy’s bones, which is one tooth puncture mark on the top of her left pubic bone. The only issue with coming to a conclusion with this evidence is the possibility that the puncture mark coming after Lucy’s death (Kimbel, n.d.). Lucy, the discovery of a new stepping-stone in our family tree, has proven to be vital to the puzzle of what is known as anthropology. The finding of Lucy led to many questions such as whether or not she was a hominid, and if she was, where exactly would she be placed in the hominid line. With Lucy being such a revolutionary find, a plethora of research would have to be done to assure she was the first of her kind to be discovered. Although these species of the zoological family hominidae vary in many ways, hominids share a collection of characteristics that bring them together as a group. Out of all the shared traits, bipedal locomotion is the biggest indication of them all. After it was confirmed that Lucy was in fact a hominid, it was time to find her place in the hominid line. At first, Johanson labeled Lucy as just another member of the genus Australopithecus. But after further examination, Johanson realized that Lucy’s traits were much more primitive than the family of ape-like hominids from two and four million years ago which sparked the idea that Lucy may be a variation of said genus. A big indicator that Lucy was different was the fact that she had a smaller brain than Australopithecus. Being older than Australopithecus yet having developed bipedalism led anthropologist to believe that walking upright was established before enlarging the brain (“Lucy the Hominid”, n.d.). In order to place Lucy in the correct spot in the hominid line, Johanson teamed up with U.C. Berkely anthropologist Tim White. The two examined Lucy then compared her to the professed “First Family”. This “First Family” was a collection of roughly thirteen other remains found at Hadar. Not only did they compare Lucy to the “First Family”, but the duo then used excavated hominid footprints that were founded by anthropologist Mary Leakey in Laetoli, Tanzania. Through a trailblazing paper written in 1978, Johanson and White declared Lucy, the “First Family”, and the excavated footprints as belonging to a new species in which they named after the Afar Triangle where Lucy was found, “Australopithecus afarensis”. Lucy is a truly phenomenal find, the list of things that are special about her goes on and on. At 40%, Lucy is the most complete specimen to ever be discovered. At the time, she was also the oldest to ever be discovered. As I noted earlier, a key clue to the order of evolutionary developments was found in Lucy. With a small brain and developed bipedalism, Lucy proved that the ability to walk upright had advanced before enlarging the brain. This observation opposed the idea that was commonly believed before, that larger brains were developed before bipedal locomotion. Those are a few of the many reasons why Lucy was such a revolutionary find to the hominid line.
Everything from Lucy’s physical characteristics to her age has played a key role in mankind’s quest to solve where we came from as a species. Even through the discovery of other hominid, Lucy is still perhaps the most famous hominid for giving anthropologist an incredible insight into the order of evolution.

Works Cited
Lucy the Hominid - (Lucy the Hominid - Crystalinks) http://www.crystalinks.com/lucy.html Lucy's Story (Lucy's Story) https://iho.asu.edu/about/lucys-story#third Famed "Lucy" Fossils Discovered in Ethiopia, 40 Years Ago (History.com) http://www.history.com/news/famed-lucy-fossils-discovered-in-ethiopia-40-years-ago What Was "Lucy"? Fast Facts on an Early Human Ancestor (National Geographic)
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/09/060920-lucy.html