Lucy’s discovery transformed our understanding of human origins. Don Johanson, who unearthed the Australopithecus afarensis ...

The 3.2-million-year-old human ancestor known as Lucy rose to fame through an incredible combination of circumstances ...

Perhaps most importantly, Lucy’s discovery foreshadowed a series of fossil finds that filled in the scientific picture of her species. By 1978, enough evidence had accumulated to establish Lucy as the ...

The fossil remains of the unique hominid were found in Ethiopia in 1974, traveled around the world, were the subject of ...

Her species provided compelling evidence that upright walking evolved before large brains in human evolution.

As the oldest and most complete hominin skeleton at the time of her discovery, Lucy became the poster child for Australopithecus afarensis and the unofficial mother of all humans. But her legacy is ...

NEWS ANALYSIS. Fifty years after this fossil's discovery, its place in the history of humankind is still debated, while, in ...

One of the 20th-century's biggest quests was to find the “missing link,” a being who connected humans to their pre-historic ancestors. It was also the height of scientific racism.

The pollen specialist was part of the expedition that unearthed the Australopithecus afarensis in northeastern Ethiopia in ...

Each of these ancient fossils, even if just a small part of a skeleton, represents an identifiable character in the story of humankind.