There are a few interesting facts about Lucy; she was named after The Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and one of the astounding facts that came out of the skeletal remains was that Lucy walked upright.
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Google Doodle on Tuesday celebrated the 41st anniversary of the discovery of “Lucy”, a name given to skeletal fragments of primate (family) Australopithecus afarensis species which existed 3.2 million years ago.
Despite her short stature and hirsute frame, Lucy the Australopithecus afarensis, whose discovery is today commemorated with a Google Doodle, was from a species that could be a forerunner to modern humans.
At present, Lucy’s remains are conserved in Ethiopia, although they toured the United States from 2008 to 2013.
Lucy’s species, called as Australopithecus afarensis, is believed to have lived 3 million years ago, and is the closest primate to the Homo genus.
Her most important characteristics is her knee structure and her spine curvature from which scientists concluded that she mainly walked upright, a very human trait. However, there is one tooth mark from a carnivore on the top of her left pubic bone – but it’s not known whether this happened before she died, or whether she was bitten after. It has been suggested from her skeleton that she was around 3′ 3 tall, and weighed around 60 pounds.
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The cause of Lucy’s death is unknown, but it is believed that she was a mature but young adult when she died. Lucy now lives in Ethiopia, near to where she was found The skeleton of Lucy now lies hidden away from the public in a specially-constructed safe in the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, not far from where she was discovered. Lucy’s platsic replica is kept in the public for tourists to observe.
