The 41st anniversary of the discovery of ‘Lucy’ has been celebrated with a Google Doodle.
‘Lucy’ is a collection of fossilised bones that once made up the skeleton of a hominid from the Australopithecus afarensis species. She lived in Ethiopia 3.2 million years ago.
First discovered in 1973, the discovery was remarkably ‘complete’ – 40 per cent of her skeleton was found intact, rather than just a handful of incomplete and damaged fossils that usually make up remains of a similar age.
Shortly after being dug up, it became apparent that Lucy was a significant find with researchers saying she belonged to a previously unknown species.
In honour of ‘Lucy’, here are five things you may not know about her:
1. She was named after The Beatles song ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’
After making the discovery, paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson headed back to his campsite with his team.
He put a Beatles cassette in the tape player, and when Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds came on, one of the group said he should call the skeleton Lucy.
“All of a sudden, she became a person,” Johanson told the BBC.
Read more: How related are you to Lucy?
Source independent
