Australopithecus afarensis, "Lucy", Pelvis, Disarticulated

KO-036-PD $304.00

3.2 MYA. A. afarensis was discovered by Donald Johanson in 1974 in Ethiopia. We constructed the "Lucy" pelvis by using casts of the left innominate and sacrum, which were part of the discovery. The right innominate (colored gray) is a reconstruction. The shape of the pelvis indicates that "Lucy" walked upright. Other characteristics of the limb skeleton indicate that members of this species also spent time in the trees. The brain of "Lucy" was relatively small and overlapped in size with living apes. This combination of an ape-sized brain in a hominid adapted to upright walking adds to the evidence that bipedalism occurred before the development of a relatively large brain.