In Prague, at the National Museum of the Czech Republic, fragments of bones of the oldest human ancestor "Lucy" - Australopithecus afarensis - were presented for the first time in Europe. This is reported by UNN with reference to France24.
Details
It is noted that the ancient remains of "Lucy", whose age is estimated at 3.18 million years, were discovered in Ethiopia in 1974. The find turned out to be the most complete ever made at that time and revolutionized the understanding of human ancestors.
Currently, "Lucy" is represented by 52 fragments - teeth, parts of the skull, pelvis, and femur. Her remains are provided by the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa and will be available for viewing for 60 days as part of the exhibition "The Origin of Man and Fossil Remains."
Next to her, another unique specimen will be exhibited - "Selam", a fossilized Australopithecus infant that lived approximately 100 thousand years earlier. "Selam" is being displayed outside Ethiopia for the first time.
Lucy changed the direction of human origin research due to her completeness and age. Selam is a unique fossil of a child who died at the age of two years and seven months
Michal Lukas, Director of the National Museum of the Czech Republic, emphasized that these exhibits belong to "the most valuable and oldest paleoanthropological finds in the world."
Lucy was about 110 cm tall and weighed 29 kg. She walked on two legs, but at the same time had strong arms, which indicates a habit of climbing trees and probably spending the night there.
She was named "Lucy" after The Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", which the research team listened to after the discovery.
The skeleton last left Ethiopia in 2007–2013, when it was exhibited in US museums. Lucy is believed to have died at the age of 11–13, likely after falling from a tree.
Recall
Genetic analysis of two 7th-century burials in England revealed that some individuals had ancestors from West Africa. This indicates distant migratory ties and the cosmopolitan nature of early medieval England.