"Lucy" in the Sky with Diamonds Quiz

Answer: 1974

It was 110 degrees on the hot, dusty plain. For some reason a small gully caught the eyes of the paleoanthropologists. It had already been searched by other workers. However, it is always a good idea to look again! As they returned to their vehicle, one of them noticed a fragment of an arm bone. Then they noticed a piece of the skull - then a piece of the femur! That night a tape recorder in the camp played "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" from the Beatles over and over.

The song was featured on the Beatles "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album, which was recorded at the Abbey Road studio on the machine in the picture.

Answer: Hadar, Ethiopia

Hadar, which is also spelled Adda Da'ar, a small village near the site where "Lucy" was found, is near the southern edge of the Afar Triangle. The year before the discovery of "Lucy", some hominid fossils had been found nearby, about 1.6 miles from "Lucy's" site.

In 2000, a skull and other fossil remains were found in nearby Dikika. It was determined that they belonged to a three-year-old girl, who was named "Selam", meaning peace. She has also been nicknamed "Lucy's baby", although the remains are thought to be about 120,000 years older than "Lucy's".

Answer: Donald Johanson

At the time of "Lucy's" discovery, Donald Johanson was an assistant and associate professor of anthropology at Case Western Reserve University. He had already spent one field season working near Hadar with an expedition that included four Americans and seven Frenchmen; part of a shinbone and femur fossil had been found. Little did he know that he would hit the jackpot during seasons two and three! Johnson established the "Institute of Human Origins" in 1981, which is currently housed at Arizona State University.

His quote concerning his famous discovery comprises the introduction to this quiz.

Answer: "Australopithecus afarensis"

After much debate it was decided that "Lucy" was an "Australopithecus afarensis", the species lived 3.9-2.9 million years ago. There are some who believe "Lucy" is closely related to the "Homo" species; perhaps one day it will be discovered that she is the common ancestor Charles Darwin wrote about!

Answer: 3.2 million years

Initially it was difficult to accurately date "Lucy's" fossils. With new technology developed in the early 1990s, "Lucy's" fossils were dated based on the volcanic ash surrounding them. The argon-argon radiometric dating method was used.

Answer: 40%

At the time of discovery, "Lucy's" skeleton was the most complete early hominid ever found. Since then, another early hominid skeleton, "Ardi", was found in 1992. It was even more complete than "Lucy", and was dated at 4.4 million years old.

Answer: Lucy walked on two legs.

Although some of "Lucy's" characteristics were definitely shared with early hominids, she also had some clearly human ones. Her valgus knee indicates that she normally walked upright. Her pelvis and leg bones were almost identical in function to those of modern humans. The ratio of her femur to humerus suggests that she may have had proportionally longer arms than modern humans. However, her lumber curve is another indication of habitual bipedalism.

Answer: False

A member of "Lucy's" species would normally be a plant eater. That's not to say that they would pass on meat if it was available, but considering the brain capacity of early hominids (lack of ability to make weapons), and their physical size, it is highly unlikely that "Lucy" ate meat on a regular basis, and when she did it consisted of smaller animals. So what did she eat? Anything that was known to be edible: berries, nuts, grasses, tubers.

The size of the teeth and depth of her palette indicate that she spent lots of time chewing her food.

Answer: False

Cranial volume is considered to be a reliable indication of brain size. It is often measured by putting some sort of granular material into the brain cavity and measuring its volume. An endocranial cast can also be made; the volume is determined after measuring the volume of the water it displaces. "Lucy's" cranial capacity was about 375 to 500 (cubic centimetres) cm3. For comparison: a chimpanzee's brain is approximately 275-500 cm3; the Neanderthals' brain is approximately 1,500-1,800 cm3; and in modern humans a woman's brain is 1130 cm3, while a man's is 1260 cm3.

Answer: First Family

Also known as AL 333, the First Family consisted of over 200 fossil specimens from thirteen individuals; some of the fossils were adults, and some were juveniles. Because all of the remains were located so closely together in the same area, it is believed that all of the individuals died at the same time.