Uncommon Nicknames/Uncommon Species Quiz

Answer: "Australopithecus afarensis"

Discovered by Donald Johanson in 1974, Lucy (AL 288-1) was given her name from the Beatles' song, "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", that was played in the camp the night of her discovery. Found in Ethiopia near in the Afar Triangle, Lucy's skeleton was the oldest, most complete hominid fossil found at the time.

As an early "Australopithecine", Lucy had a small brain, but was a bipedal walker. It is believed that her group would have been nomadic, constantly in search of food, and probably relied on trees for their housing.

Answer: "Homo heidelbergensis"

Discovered by Francis Turville-Petre in 1925 in the Cave of Robbers, which is located in Upper Galilee in modern-day Israel, Galilee Man is classified as "Homo heidelbergensis". Living in Africa, Europe, and western Asia between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, archaeological evidences suggests that "Homo heidelbergensis" may have been the first Homo species to bury their dead, and also may have passed along superior stone weapon (stone tipped spear) making techniques to later Neanderthals.

Answer: "Homo erectus"

Found by Davidson Black in 1921 near Beijing, China, Peking man is an example of "Homo erectus", who is considered to be the first habitually upright walker, and, therefore, the first true human. While the original fossils of Peking Man were lost in 1941 during the Japanese occupation of China, scientists can still work from the casts that were made.

Answer: "Ardipithecus ramidus"

Found in Ethiopia in 1994 by Yohannes Haile-Selassie, Ardi is believed to be a female hominid approximately 4.4 million years old. A monumental discovery, Ardi is the most complete hominid fossil found to date - even older than the famed Lucy. After studying Ardi's fossils, some scientists agree that she shows traits of both early hominids and extinct primates. Could she be a missing link species? Only time will tell.

Answer: "Australopithecus africanus"

Found in 1924 by Raymond Dart in South Africa, Taung Child (Taung 1) was originally believed to be the skull of an ape or monkey. Raymond Dart, however, believed the skull belonged to a hominid species because of the position of the foramen magnum, the place where the spinal cord enters the brain, which indicated upright walking. Because of the damage to the skull and eye sockets, it is believed that Taung Child may have been killed by some sort of predatory bird.

Answer: "Homo habilis"

Also known as OH24, Twiggy was found by Peter Nzube in the Olduvai Gorge area of Tanzania in 1966. Because the skull had been smashed and was almost totally flat, it was named after the famous model of the time, Twiggy. As a "Homo habilis", Twiggy is believed to have had some skill in weapon making, using stone flakes to chop, scrape, and pound.

Answer: "Homo sapiens"

Mungo man (Lake Mungo 3) was discovered near Lake Mungo in Australia in 1974, and is believed to be an early aboriginal human who lived in Australia sometime between 40,000-68,000 years ago. Found by Dr. Jim Bowler, the body was elaborately buried and sprinkled with red ochre; the discovery is important because it proves that aboriginal cultural traditions have been practised in Australia for far longer than previously thought.

Answer: "Homo sapiens sapiens"

La Brea Woman, discovered in 1914, has the distinction of being the only human whose remains were found in the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California. Believed to be 25-30 years old at the time of her death, the remains of La Brea woman date back to approximately 10,000 years ago.

Answer: "Paranthropus boisei"

Also known as OH5 or "Nutcracker Man", Dear Boy was discovered by Mary Leakey in 1959 while working in the Olduvai Gorge of Tanzania. The discovery was given the name "Nutcracker Man" due to its large teeth and jaws. While the brain size of Dear Boy was very small, his large teeth and jaws were perhaps needed for chewing whatever food was available to him.

Answer: "Homo ergaster"

The skeleton of Turkana Boy, found in 1984 by Kamoya Kimeu in Kenya, is the most complete human skeleton ever found. Believed to be 1.5 to 1.6 million years old, Turkana Boy was classified as "Homo ergaster", or "working man" due to the evidence of stone tools that were found at the site. Paleontologists believe that "Homo ergaster" may have been one of the earliest hunters on man's family tree.