Australopithecus afarensis lived from approximately 4 to 2.7 million years ago along the northern Rift valley of east Africa, and perhaps even earlier.

Fragments of more than 300 individuals of Australopithecus afarensis have been discovered so far, including the remarkably complete skeleto

n of an adult female, "Lucy" She was found in 1974 near Hadar in Ethiopia. Her skeleton has provided a wealth of information about the ancestral line of human beings. She was only about 3 feet, 8 inches tall. Males were somewhat taller and twice as robust.

While A. afarensis walked upright like a modern human, they had long arms. The ratio of upper arm bone to upper leg bone is virtually the same as that of a Chimpanzee. The ratio of upper arm to upper leg in a modern human is not similar. Sexual dimorphism in terms of body size is quite pronounced in this species, with males approximately twice as large in bulk as females and considerably taller. In mammals, this large size disparity in the sexes usually means that males compete for mating privileges with females. However, the large fighting canines found in male gorillas, chimps, and baboons are absent in Australopithecus afarensis so we cannot draw clear assumptions about their social behavior.

With the help of one creature, science can look back at a time that no one believed existed. Donald Johanson and his discovery of "Lucy" have opened a time gap, back millions of years. It is amazing that science enables us to explore all aspects of a species through the natural process of decomposition and nature has preserved it so well. Studying the past can open so many facets of life today and will continue into

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