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article__header__reduce_padding_bottom-lno25"><div class="article_date_and_read_time-yLEUt"><p class="article_pub_date-EsKM-">September 20, 2006</p><p class="article_read_time-zEJJG">3 min read</p></div><h1 class="article_hed-9vUZD"><p>Special Report: Lucy's Baby</p></h1><div class="article_dek-bmjfm"><p>An extraordinary new human fossil comes to light</p></div><p class="article_authors-s5nSV">By <a class="article_authors__link--mMFB" href="/author/kate-wong/">Kate Wong</a></p><div class="article_eyebrows-BqeOV"><div class="eyebrows_container-QeE5W eyebrows_container__margin_top-8RQXq"></div></div></div><div class="columnSignup-ztftf"><form class="form-iuY8H"><p class="columnSignup__hdr__text-txjdh">Join Our Community of Science Lovers!</p><button class=""><span class="columnDropdownTxt-vmLrQ">Sign Up for Our Free Daily Newsletter</span></button><div class="columnDropdownWrap-EOZlf"><div><label for="email-:R8p:" class="sr-only">Email Address</label><input id="email-:R8p:" class="input-DHdro input-QLKSA" type="email" name="email" placeholder="Enter your email" required=""/></div><div><label for="consent-:R8p:" class="checkboxLabel-zVwTj"><input id="consent-:R8p:" class="input-DHdro input-QLKSA checkbox-tNiTj" type="checkbox" name="consent" required=""/><span>I agree my information will be processed in accordance with the Scientific American and Springer Nature Limited <a href="/page/privacy-policy">Privacy Policy</a>.</span></label></div><input type="hidden" name="lists" value="today_in_science"/><button class="button-yNos0" type="submit">Sign Up</button></div></form></div><div class="body-n28ll prose-Yw0x0 prose-v4bYC article__body-ivA3W"><p class="" data-block="sciam/paragraph">The arid badlands of Ethiopia's Afar region have long been a favorite hunting ground for paleoanthropologists. The area is perhaps best known for having yielded "Lucy," the 3.2-million-year-old skeleton of a human ancestor known as <i>Australopithecus afarensis.</i> Now researchers have unveiled another incredible find, from a site called Dikika, just four kilometers from where Lucy turned up. It is the skeleton of an <i>A. afarensis</i> child who lived 3.3 million years ago. No other hominin of such antiquity--including Lucy--is as complete as this one. Moreover, as the earliest juvenile hominin ever found, the Dikika fossil provides a rare opportunity to study growth processes in our ancient relatives.<br/><br/>Fossil hunters led by paleoanthropologist Zeresenay Alemseged, now at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, discovered the remains--believed to be those of a three-year-old girl--in 1999. Most of the upper part of the skeleton was entombed in sandstone when it was found. It has taken Alemseged five years to remove enough of the cementlike matrix to expose the key elements, and many more bones remain obscured by the sediment. Still, the specimen has already yielded precious insights into a species that most researchers agree gave rise to our own genus, <i>Homo.</i> Alemseged and his colleagues describe the fossil and its geological and paleontological context in two papers that will be published September 21 in <i>Nature.</i><br/><br/>The skeleton consists of a virtually complete skull, the entire torso and parts of the arms and legs. Many of the bones were still in articulation. The exceptional preservation of the baby, as well as that of other animals found at the site, indicates to team geologist Jonathan G. Wynn of the University of South Florida that her body was buried shortly after death by a flood event. Whether she perished in the flood or before the flood is unknown.</p><p class="" data-block="sciam/paragraph">Although she was only three when she died, the Dikika youngster already possessed the distinctive characteristics of her species. Some of the most intriguing ones pertain to locomotion.</p><p class="" data-block="sciam/paragraph">Scholars agree that <i>A. afarensis</i> was a creature that got around capably on two legs. But starting in the 1980s, a debate over whether the species was also adapted for life in the trees emerged. The argument centered on the observation that whereas <i>A. afarensis</i> has clear adaptations to bipedal walking in its lower body, its upper body exhibits a number of primitive traits better suited to an arboreal existence, such as long, curved fingers for grasping tree branches. One camp held that <i>A. afarensis</i> had transitioned fully to terrestrial life, and that the tree-friendly features of the upper body were just evolutionary baggage handed down from an arboreal ancestor. The other side contended that if <i>A. afarensis</i> had retained those traits for hundreds of thousands of years, then tree climbing must have still formed an important part of its locomotor repertoire.</p><hr/><h2>On supporting science journalism</h2><p>If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by <a href="/getsciam/">subscribing</a>. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.</p><hr/><p class="" data-block="sciam/paragraph">Like adult <i>A. afarensis,</i> the Dikika baby had long, curved fingers. But the fossil also brings new data to the debate in the form of two shoulder blades, or scapulae--bones previously unknown for this species. According to Alemseged, the shoulder blades of the child look most like those of a gorilla. The upward-facing shoulder socket is particularly apelike, contrasting sharply with the laterally facing socket modern humans have. This, Alemseged says, may indicate that the individual was raising its hands above its head--something primates do when they climb.</p><p class="" data-block="sciam/paragraph">Further hints of arboreal tendencies reside in the baby's inner ear. Using computed tomographic imaging, the team was able to glimpse her semicircular canal system, which is important for maintaining balance. The researchers determined that the infant's semicircular canals resemble those of African apes and another australopithecine, <i>A. africanus.</i> This, they suggest, could indicate that <i>A. afarensis</i> was not as fast and agile on two legs as we modern humans are. It could also mean that <i>A. afarensis</i> was limited in its ability to decouple its head and torso, a feat that is said to play a key role in endurance running in our own species.</p></div><footer class="footer-u1I4n"><div class="divide-L7a-x"><div class="rights-Y0o9k"><a target="_blank" href="https://s100.copyright.com/AppDispatchServlet?publisherName=sciam&publication=sciam&title=Special+Report%3A+Lucy%27s+Baby&publicationDate=2006-09-20&contentID=00076C1D-62D1-1511-A2D183414B7F0000&orderBeanReset=true&author=Kate+Wong&copyright=Copyright+2006+Scientific+American%2C+Inc.+All+rights+reserved">Rights & Permissions</a></div></div><div class="divide-L7a-x"><footer class="footnote-RBp25"><p>A Spectacular Skeleton: Interactive Infographic</p></footer></div><div class="divide-L7a-x"><div class="subdivide-5Zp4J"><div class="bio-LnT3Q"><p><b><a class="bioLink-kqdDv" href="/author/kate-wong/">Kate Wong</a></b> is an award-winning science writer and senior editor at <i>Scientific American</i> focused on evolution, ecology, anthropology, archaeology, paleontology and animal behavior. She is fascinated by human origins, which she has covered for more than 25 years. Recently she has become obsessed with birds. Her reporting has taken her to caves in France and Croatia that Neandertals once called home, to the shores of Kenya's Lake Turkana in search of the oldest stone tools in the world, to Madagascar on an expedition to unearth ancient mammals and dinosaurs, to the icy waters of Antarctica, where humpback whales feast on krill, and on a "Big Day" race around the state of Connecticut to find as many bird species as possible in 24 hours. Kate is co-author, with Donald Johanson, of <i>Lucy's Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins</i>. She holds a bachelor of science degree in biological anthropology and zoology from the University of Michigan. Follow Wong on X (formerly Twitter) <a href="https://twitter.com/katewong">@katewong</a></p></div><a href="/author/kate-wong/">More by <span>Kate Wong</span></a></div></div><div class="divide-L7a-x"></div></footer><div class="breakoutContainer-8fsaw"><gpt-ad class="ad-G8iDN" unitpath="injector" style="--margin:0.25rem 0 1.25rem" id-format="gpt-unit-{}" sizes-from-0="320x450,300x250,300x50,320x50,fluid" sizes-from-745="320x450,728x90,300x250,fluid" sizes-from-1000="970x350,970x250,970x90,728x90,300x250,fluid" targeting-pos="article-footer"></gpt-ad></div></article></main><footer class="footer-VfsmT"><div class="footerContainer-pfbjC"><h2 class="footerMainText-wQ3og">Expand Your World with Science</h2></div><div class="footerFlexContainer-XKe5g footerContainer-pfbjC"><div class="footerLinks-m1THn"><p class="footerText-PzHcy">Learn and share the most exciting discoveries, innovations and ideas shaping our world today.</p><a class="footerLink-uRzI4" 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The area is perhaps best known for having yielded \\"Lucy,\\" the 3.2-million-year-old skeleton of a human ancestor known as <i>Australopithecus afarensis.</i> Now researchers have unveiled another incredible find, from a site called Dikika, just four kilometers from where Lucy turned up. It is the skeleton of an <i>A. afarensis</i> child who lived 3.3 million years ago. No other hominin of such antiquity--including Lucy--is as complete as this one. Moreover, as the earliest juvenile hominin ever found, the Dikika fossil provides a rare opportunity to study growth processes in our ancient relatives.<br/><br/>Fossil hunters led by paleoanthropologist Zeresenay Alemseged, now at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, discovered the remains--believed to be those of a three-year-old girl--in 1999. Most of the upper part of the skeleton was entombed in sandstone when it was found. It has taken Alemseged five years to remove enough of the cementlike matrix to expose the key elements, and many more bones remain obscured by the sediment. Still, the specimen has already yielded precious insights into a species that most researchers agree gave rise to our own genus, <i>Homo.</i> Alemseged and his colleagues describe the fossil and its geological and paleontological context in two papers that will be published September 21 in <i>Nature.</i><br/><br/>The skeleton consists of a virtually complete skull, the entire torso and parts of the arms and legs. Many of the bones were still in articulation. The exceptional preservation of the baby, as well as that of other animals found at the site, indicates to team geologist Jonathan G. Wynn of the University of South Florida that her body was buried shortly after death by a flood event. Whether she perished in the flood or before the flood is unknown.</p>","why_box":"","content":[{"tag":"p","type":"paragraph","attributes":{},"content":"The arid badlands of Ethiopia's Afar region have long been a favorite hunting ground for paleoanthropologists. The area is perhaps best known for having yielded \\"Lucy,\\" the 3.2-million-year-old skeleton of a human ancestor known as <i>Australopithecus afarensis.</i> Now researchers have unveiled another incredible find, from a site called Dikika, just four kilometers from where Lucy turned up. It is the skeleton of an <i>A. afarensis</i> child who lived 3.3 million years ago. No other hominin of such antiquity--including Lucy--is as complete as this one. Moreover, as the earliest juvenile hominin ever found, the Dikika fossil provides a rare opportunity to study growth processes in our ancient relatives.<br/><br/>Fossil hunters led by paleoanthropologist Zeresenay Alemseged, now at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, discovered the remains--believed to be those of a three-year-old girl--in 1999. Most of the upper part of the skeleton was entombed in sandstone when it was found. It has taken Alemseged five years to remove enough of the cementlike matrix to expose the key elements, and many more bones remain obscured by the sediment. Still, the specimen has already yielded precious insights into a species that most researchers agree gave rise to our own genus, <i>Homo.</i> Alemseged and his colleagues describe the fossil and its geological and paleontological context in two papers that will be published September 21 in <i>Nature.</i><br/><br/>The skeleton consists of a virtually complete skull, the entire torso and parts of the arms and legs. Many of the bones were still in articulation. The exceptional preservation of the baby, as well as that of other animals found at the site, indicates to team geologist Jonathan G. Wynn of the University of South Florida that her body was buried shortly after death by a flood event. Whether she perished in the flood or before the flood is unknown."},{"tag":"p","type":"paragraph","attributes":{},"content":"Although she was only three when she died, the Dikika youngster already possessed the distinctive characteristics of her species. Some of the most intriguing ones pertain to locomotion."},{"tag":"p","type":"paragraph","attributes":{},"content":"Scholars agree that <i>A. afarensis</i> was a creature that got around capably on two legs. But starting in the 1980s, a debate over whether the species was also adapted for life in the trees emerged. The argument centered on the observation that whereas <i>A. afarensis</i> has clear adaptations to bipedal walking in its lower body, its upper body exhibits a number of primitive traits better suited to an arboreal existence, such as long, curved fingers for grasping tree branches. One camp held that <i>A. afarensis</i> had transitioned fully to terrestrial life, and that the tree-friendly features of the upper body were just evolutionary baggage handed down from an arboreal ancestor. The other side contended that if <i>A. afarensis</i> had retained those traits for hundreds of thousands of years, then tree climbing must have still formed an important part of its locomotor repertoire."},{"tag":"p","type":"paragraph","attributes":{},"content":"Like adult <i>A. afarensis,</i> the Dikika baby had long, curved fingers. But the fossil also brings new data to the debate in the form of two shoulder blades, or scapulae--bones previously unknown for this species. According to Alemseged, the shoulder blades of the child look most like those of a gorilla. The upward-facing shoulder socket is particularly apelike, contrasting sharply with the laterally facing socket modern humans have. This, Alemseged says, may indicate that the individual was raising its hands above its head--something primates do when they climb."},{"tag":"p","type":"paragraph","attributes":{},"content":"Further hints of arboreal tendencies reside in the baby's inner ear. Using computed tomographic imaging, the team was able to glimpse her semicircular canal system, which is important for maintaining balance. The researchers determined that the infant's semicircular canals resemble those of African apes and another australopithecine, <i>A. africanus.</i> This, they suggest, could indicate that <i>A. afarensis</i> was not as fast and agile on two legs as we modern humans are. It could also mean that <i>A. afarensis</i> was limited in its ability to decouple its head and torso, a feat that is said to play a key role in endurance running in our own species."}],"authors":[{"mura_id":"B86446B8-62C1-43FE-97FEDA849BE9AC9C","url":"/author/kate-wong/","contentful_id":"yFCZVJF1IeLZ9q5CFd2IB","name":"Kate Wong","slug":"kate-wong","biography":"<p><b>Kate Wong</b> is an award-winning science writer and senior editor at <i>Scientific American</i> focused on evolution, ecology, anthropology, archaeology, paleontology and animal behavior. She is fascinated by human origins, which she has covered for more than 25 years. Recently she has become obsessed with birds. Her reporting has taken her to caves in France and Croatia that Neandertals once called home, to the shores of Kenya's Lake Turkana in search of the oldest stone tools in the world, to Madagascar on an expedition to unearth ancient mammals and dinosaurs, to the icy waters of Antarctica, where humpback whales feast on krill, and on a \\"Big Day\\" race around the state of Connecticut to find as many bird species as possible in 24 hours. Kate is co-author, with Donald Johanson, of <i>Lucy's Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins</i>. She holds a bachelor of science degree in biological anthropology and zoology from the University of Michigan. Follow Wong on X (formerly Twitter) <a href=\\"https://twitter.com/katewong\\">@katewong</a></p>","picture_file":null,"contacts":[]}],"editors":[],"image_url":null,"image_width":null,"image_height":null,"image_alt_text":null,"image_caption":null,"image_credits":null,"image_desktop_url":null,"image_desktop_width":null,"image_desktop_height":null,"image_block_syndication":false,"release_date":"2006-09-20T13:00:00-04:00","primary_category":"The Sciences","primary_category_slug":"the-sciences","subcategory":"The 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