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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNow We Know How ‘Lucy’ Died 3 Million Years Ago. Maybe.
Scientists say the iconic human ancestor fell out of a tree.
In cracking what must be one of the coldest cases of all time, scientists at the University of Texas claim to have figured out what killed Lucy, the iconic human ancestral specimen who lived and died more than 3 million years ago.
In a paper published Monday in the journal Nature, the researchers argue that the pattern of fractures seen in Lucys 3.2-million-year-old fossilized bones show that she died as the result of a vertical deceleration event.
In other words, a severe fall from a considerable height.
Scientists have long debated whether Lucy, a small bipedal creature who belonged to an extinct species known as Australopithecus afarensis, spent time in trees (arborealism) as well as on the ground ― a point referenced by the papers lead author in a written statement ...
The researchers concluded that these and other fractures in her skeleton show that Lucy, who is believed to have stood about 3 feet 6 inches and weighed about 60 pounds, fell feet first and used her arms to brace herself ― but that the impact was too severe to have been survivable.
The researchers estimate that Lucy was going about 35 miles an hour when she hit the ground after falling from a height of roughly 40 feet, according to the statement.
Our hypothesis suggests that the fractures in Lucys shoulder were produced when she stretched out her arms in a last desperate attempt to break her fall. We have all done this when we fall. It was in the moment of understanding her death, of literally being able to experience what she went through, that I felt empathy for her. My understanding of her death brought her to life for me.
Read more at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lucy-died-three-million-years-ago_us_57c468fce4b09cd22d91afb7?section=&
elleng
(130,974 posts)a FALL!!!
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)I guess Lucy "decelerated" when she hit the ground.
bluesbassman
(19,374 posts)It wasn't the fall that killed her, it was the sudden stop!
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)it's the deceleration event.
Qutzupalotl
(14,317 posts)Karma.
Chico Man
(3,001 posts)CAG
(1,820 posts)Nevernose
(13,081 posts)Benghazi!
CAG
(1,820 posts)NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)Warpy
(111,277 posts)Let's hope it was quick. They didn't cite any signs of inflammation around the fractures, so perhaps it was. Shock would have killed her even if the fractures hadn't.
Arkansas Granny
(31,518 posts)If that was the cause of her death, why she was so high in the tree. Was she gathering food, did she leave offspring, was she mourned?
Warpy
(111,277 posts)All sorts of animals have been noted mourning their dead. My cat HRH mourned the old tomcat for years, meowing at closet doors and thinking he'd been trapped inside. What distinguishes us from animals is that we attend to our dead with cremation, ritual exposure to predators like raptors, burial, and other methods. Animals just leave them where they are, which seems to be the case for Lucy, although we really don't know. Nothing, including her original position, has been preserved, only her fully mineralized bones remain.
Her life was likely very social and she'd have spent her time foraging for food with a lot of leisure time, the way human hunter/gatherer groups do today. She might have been up that tree looking for small prey, harvesting the highest fruit or nuts, or trying to escape something bigger than she was that was capable of climbing trees. We know from other Australopithecus skeletons that they still had the opposable great toe and flexible ankles that allowed them to use all 4 extremities to climb trees, while their S shaped spinal column and position of the foramen magnum at the base of the skull tells us that she walked upright on the ground. They remained great climbers, very useful 3+ million years ago.
There are a lot of great docs and lectures over at You Tube on this stuff, the difference between species, whether they are all different species, how the homonin skeleton changed over time, and the changes within the skull that allowed h. habilis to pick up two rocks, bang them together, and create a hand axe.
Glassunion
(10,201 posts)Buckeye_Democrat
(14,855 posts)... that was "rapey."
Or not.
padfun
(1,786 posts)Was it murder?
Or did she just slip?
Buckeye_Democrat
(14,855 posts)WhiteTara
(29,718 posts)her slipping. If she had been pushed I would think it would have been head first.
BumRushDaShow
(129,103 posts)WhiteTara
(29,718 posts)That's the most logical answer.
mhatrw
(10,786 posts)The2ndWheel
(7,947 posts)mnhtnbb
(31,392 posts)tclambert
(11,087 posts)Did I get it?