In November 1974, an extraordinary discovery took place in the Afar region of Ethiopia that fundamentally transformed our understanding of human evolution. American paleontologist Don Johanson and his graduate student Tom Gray unearthed a fossil skeleton that would later be known as Lucy. This fossil revealed that ancient hominins walked upright on two feet 3.2 million years ago, a characteristic previously believed to have developed much later in conjunction with the emergence of larger brains and tool usage. The discovery of Lucy not only marked a pivotal moment in the study of human origins, but it also sparked a widespread interest in our evolutionary past.
Lucy was classified as a member of a new species, Australopithecus afarensis, which possessed a compelling blend of ape-like and human traits. This mix suggested her critical position in our evolutionary lineage, and for the past fifty years, she has served as a focal point for both scientific research and public curiosity about human ancestry. Even today, despite newer finds dating back further than Lucy, she remains a cornerstone in paleoanthropology and retains her status as a cultural symbol of our ancient past.
On the 50th anniversary of her discovery, CNN had the opportunity to speak with Don Johanson, now 81 and the founding director of the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University. Johanson shared his vivid recollections of the day Lucy was found, recounting the inhospitable conditions that accompanied their expedition in the Afar Desert—where temperatures soared above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It was during this sweltering day that he happened to look over his right shoulder and spotted a small fragment of bone—a piece that would soon reveal itself to be a part of a human ancestor.
As he and his student kneeled in the dirt, examining the fragments of skull, pelvis, and bones, Johanson realized he had stumbled upon a remarkable find, fulfilling his childhood dream of discovering human fossils in Africa. Their excavation of Lucy was meticulous due to the fragile nature of the bones, which had mineralized and turned to stone over millennia. The careful recovery process took approximately two and a half weeks. When the skeleton was finally pieced together, it revealed that Lucy, while an adult, stood at merely about 3.5 feet tall.
The naming of Lucy came rather whimsically. Recognizing her likely gender based on the bones’ petite and delicate nature, Johanson made the association with the Beatles’ song “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” which was playing during their camp night when the name was suggested by one of his team members. This catchy name made Lucy more relatable and inviting to the public, establishing her as a figure of fascination in the narrative of human origins.
In exploring the environment Lucy lived in, Johanson conveyed that it was vastly different from today’s open plains of the Serengeti. Instead, it was a more forested area interspersed with open bushes, providing a rich supply of fruits and nuts for ancient hominins. This evolutionary backdrop suggested that bipedalism likely emerged in forested regions rather than the savannas as initially speculated.
When Lucy was discovered, she was the most complete hominin skeleton known, leading to a surge of interest and subsequent expeditions in the Ethiopia region to uncover more fossils. Lucy not only broke the previously held 3 million-year barrier in human origins research but also sparked an increased pace of discovery in the area known as Hadar, which yielded vast fossil findings of her species.
As time has passed, much has been uncovered in the field of human evolution, expanding our perceptions regarding Neanderthals, ancient human interaction, and even the existence of Denisovans, a previously unknown hominin. Interestingly, while Lucy’s species did not directly lead to modern humans, her contribution to understanding our shared family tree remains invaluable. The discoveries over the last fifty years have allowed researchers to grasp more about who we are today and how we relate to the broader tapestry of ancient human history.
