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Lucy Family Tree

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The most famous member of the human family tree was a fossil named “Lucy”. Lucy was a fossil discovered in 1974, and named after the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”. “Lucy lived some 3.2 million years ago. She belonged to the species Australopithecusafarensis” ( Bower) Lucy was a hominid, that means she came from the same family as our most recent ancient relatives and humans. The reason for being such a famous member of the family tree is because it is one of the few full skeletons of our most recent ancient relatives. Lucy plays a great role in our study of human evolution. A recent study has revealed how we think Lucy died 3.2 million years ago. We now believe that Lucy fell to her death from a large tree. The studies show …show more content…

Tim White a paleoanthropologist at the University of California says Lucy falling from a tree is non sense, and just a story for media attention. “ The cracks and breaks throughout Lucy’s skeleton occurred after her death, White asserts.”(Bower) White thinks the breaks and cracks occurred after death from fossilization. “Breaks much like Lucy’s and due to fossil-forming, can be seen in the bones of many nonclimbing animals” (Bower).Non climbing animals like hippos and rhinos have been known to have the same cracks and breaks in their bones. “Doctors have documented frequent bone breaks when people accidentally fall from heights between two and 21 meters (seven and 69 feet), White adds. Such breaks have been found in the spine, head, elbows, wrists, ankles and feet. But they have not been found in the shoulders.” (Bower) Lucy’s shoulders appeared to be broke in Kappelman’s research but the fact that doctors don’t normally have people who have fallen anywhere from 7-69 feet get broken shoulders contradicts Kappelmans argument and backs up Whites argument. Donald Johanson was the leader of the team who found Lucy. In 1982 a team led by Donald Johanson could not find the cause of death for Lucy. White was a part of this team in 1982. This team believed in 1982 that most of the bone damage to fossilization and they still stand behind that reasoning …show more content…

William Jungers is one of those people and he is a paleoanthropologist at Stony Brook Medical Center in New York. “But the evidence indeed points to a fatal fall, he now argues. No other explanation can account for Lucy’s pattern of bone damage.” (Bower) They are arguing that the cracks in the shoulder are from fossilization and the other cracks are from the fatal falls. Either way there is no way without traveling back 3.2 million years to tell what Lucy’s cause of death was so it is all what you think and

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