Hominin burial - We have learned a lot by trying to figure out what makes humans unique. Australopithecus Afarensis Physical Appearance •Brain is 1/3 the size of modern human’s, but larger than an ape’s brain. 'Lucy' is a collection of fossilised bones that once made up the skeleton of a hominid from the Australopithecus afarensis species. This exceptional body size, which falls within the range of modern Homo sapiens maximum values, makes it the largest Australopithecus afarensis individual identified so far. M. Maurice Abitbol, “Lateral view of Australopithecus afarensis: primitive aspects of bipedal positional behavior in the earliest hominids,” Journal of Human Evolution, 28 (March, 1995): 211-29 (internal citations removed). What makes afarensis a hominin? Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program Au. These footprints indicate that Australopithecus afarensis was capable of walking upright. afarensis is associated with the Laetoli Footprints, a 24-meter trackway of hominin fossil footprints preserved in volcanic ash discovered by Mary Leakey in Tanzania and dated to 3.5 mya to 3 mya. The skeleton on the left is “Lucy,” an Australopithecus afarensis that is 3.2 million years old. The hominin footprints were left by two bipedal (that is, walking on two legs) individuals walking on the same surface, at the same time, in the same direction and … a. its efficient bipedalism b. its large brain c. its tool-making ability d. all of the above. The Maasai’s Interpretation . e. its efficient bipedalism and large brain The large body size aspect is also reflected in the local community’s interpretations of the Laetoli hominin footprints. https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/australopithecus-afarensis-lucy-species.html Leslie Aiello quoted in Leakey and Lewin, Origins Reconsidered: In Search of What Makes Us Human, 196. Hominid Versus Hominin ... An artist’s reconstruction of Australopithecus afarensis, a species that can be called a hominid or a hominin. Now, it's time to focus on what we have in common with the rest of life. That makes it look more plausible that A. anamensis and A. afarensis could actually be branches from a common ancestor; in other words, they could be sisters, not mother and daughter. 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