Australopithecus afarensis


(source of picture: from World Wide Web)

Our most ancient ancestior is Australopithecus afarensis. They lived roughly 4 - 2.75 million years ago. " Lucy" (above picture) is the skeleton remains of an Australopithecus afarensis which has made us aware of this species. Males and females show a considerable difference in size, varying from 1 - 1.7 m in height and from 25 - 50 kg in weight. This bipedal ancestor had a brain capacity that fluctuated from 380 - 450 cc. (Wicander and Monroe 1993)

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