Lucy walked upright - Assembly - Salesforce Research
Summary
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Lucy, the 3.2 million-year-old ancestor of modern humans, was able to walk fully upright, according to new 3D muscle modeling. The reconstructed pelvis and leg muscles suggest that Lucy could also climb trees and was proficient at both bipedalism and arborealism.
Questions
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help_outline What is Lucy?
arstechnica.com
Australopithecus afarensis fossil AL 288-1
interestingengineering.com
3.2 million-year-old skeleton fossils
standard.co.uk
Australopithecus afarensis
phys.org
the famous fossil specimen
phys.org
Australopithecus--with
cnn.com
rare fossil
express.co.uk
fossil
standard.co.uk
the most complete known early human ancestor
standard.co.uk
the world's most famous early human ancestor
cnn.com
3.2-million-year-old human relative
livescience.com
million-year-old human ancestor
livescience.com
3.2 million-year-old ancestor
inverse.com
Iconic Ancient Human
livescience.com
Human ancestor
help_outline What did scientists discover about Lucy's ability to walk?
standard.co.uk
had knee joints that allowed her to walk fully upright as well as strong leg and pelvic muscles suited to living in trees
standard.co.uk
had knee joints that allowed her to walk fully upright
arstechnica.com
fully bipedal, i.e., stood upright and walked erect
livescience.com
upright just like modern humans do
arstechnica.com
fully erect
inverse.com
Upright
help_outline What is Australopithecus afarensis?
inverse.com
female hominid species
arstechnica.com
a hominin
phys.org
hominin
standard.co.uk
a group of small-bodied and small-brained early human relatives
interestingengineering.com
ancient hominin species
phys.org
an early human species
arstechnica.com
extinct species called Australopithecus afarensis--an early relative of Homo sapiens who was among the first hominins to walk upright
livescience.com
extinct species
help_outline How did researchers determine Lucy's muscle model?
phys.org
A 3D polygonal model, guided by imaging scan data and muscle scarring
livescience.com
used scans from modern humans as a reference
cnn.com
compared side by side with human muscle maps
phys.org
imaging scan data and muscle scarring
phys.org
Using MRI and CT scans
express.co.uk
scarring and MRI data
phys.org
MRI scan data
inverse.com
a novel, painstaking computer simulation
arstechnica.com
3D digital re-creation
inverse.com
digital reconstruction
livescience.com
digital modeling
standard.co.uk
digital 3D
standard.co.uk
digitally
phys.org
3D-modeled the leg and pelvis muscles of the hominin Australopithecus afarensis using scans
livescience.com
3D
livescience.com
by using modern humans (Homo sapiens) as analogs
inverse.com
remains and MRIs of modern human limbs
help_outline What does Lucy's skeleton indicate about human evolution?
livescience.com
human ancestors could walk upright long before they evolved bigger brains
phys.org
a capability to stand as erect as we do today
arstechnica.com
she was quite capable of walking fully erect
help_outline How does Lucy's bipedalism impact our understanding of human evolution?
inverse.com
one of humanity's first steps (literally) toward becoming ourselves
inverse.com
paints a clearer picture of how modern humans eventually evolved
inverse.com
speaks to how we came to be
livescience.com
Her discovery pointed to the possibility that human ancestors could walk upright long before they evolved bigger brains
arstechnica.com
she was quite capable of walking fully erect
help_outline How does the discovery change the current understanding of Australopithecus afarensis?
livescience.com
walked erect rather than with a chimpanzee-like, crouching waddle
arstechnica.com
reaffirmed that she was quite capable of walking fully erect
phys.org
revealing a capability to stand as erect as we do today
arstechnica.com
capable of walking upright
arstechnica.com
fully bipedal
interestingengineering.com
The 3D reconstruction shows that Lucy and other members of this hominid species were likely able to stand upright as we do today
livescience.com
support the current consensus of Lucy's physical abilities
help_outline How does Lucy's muscle reconstruction compare to modern humans?
standard.co.uk
bigger and more powerful
standard.co.uk
more than twice the size
cnn.com
much larger
phys.org
much larger in Lucy and occupied greater space in the legs
livescience.com
far more muscular
help_outline How can the discovery of Lucy's walking ability impact the study of human evolution moving forward?
standard.co.uk
may help shed light on how physical movement evolved in humans, "including those capabilities we have lost"
inverse.com
paints a clearer picture of how modern humans eventually evolved
livescience.com
pointed to the possibility that human ancestors could walk upright long before they evolved bigger brains
livescience.com
suggesting that the species could stand and walk upright
inverse.com
bipedalism was one of humanity's first steps (literally) toward becoming ourselves
inverse.com
speaks to how we came to be
help_outline What other characteristics allowed Lucy to thrive in her environment?
standard.co.uk
leg muscles were bigger and more powerful than those seen in modern humans
inverse.com
Her fully extended legs
livescience.com
massive leg muscles
livescience.com
reconstructed pelvis and leg muscles
standard.co.uk
strong leg and pelvic muscles
help_outline What other research is currently being conducted on Lucy?
phys.org
3D-modeled the leg and pelvis muscles of the hominin Australopithecus afarensis
arstechnica.com
3D digital re-creation of Lucy's muscular anatomy
livescience.com
3D muscle modeling
help_outline How were Lucy’s fossils initially discovered and how have they been preserved?
livescience.com
Ethiopia's Hadar region in the mid-1970s
phys.org
in Ethiopia in the mid-1970s
standard.co.uk
1974 in northern Ethiopia
inverse.com
1974 in Ethiopia
help_outline What other research has been done on Australopithecus afarensis?
phys.org
3D-modeled the leg and pelvis muscles
inverse.com
performed muscle reconstructions
help_outline How might Lucy's discovery impact the study of other extinct hominid species?
inverse.com
paints a clearer picture of how modern humans eventually evolved
standard.co.uk
help shed light on how physical movement evolved in humans
livescience.com
pointed to the possibility that human ancestors could walk upright long before they evolved bigger brains
interestingengineering.com
were likely able to stand upright as we do today
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