Uploaded November 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
It’s been 50 years since “Lucy,” a 3.2-million-year-old hominid, became one of the most famous fossils in the world. Her relatively complete skeleton (about 40 percent) gave scientists—and the public—an entirely new window into human evolution. Journey back to 1974 to understand why Lucy’s discovery was such big news, then jump forward to explore how cutting-edge technology has radically expanded the study of human evolution from then to now.
Museum Curators Ashley Hammond, Rob DeSalle, and Ian Tattersall break down what we learned from Lucy (known as Dinknesh in Ethiopia) and other fossils of her species, Australopithecus afarensis. They explore the importance of casts—exact replicas of fossils, including the cast of Lucy on view in the Museum’s Anne and Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins—and discuss how new technologies like micro-CT scanning, ancient DNA analysis, and proteomics have unlocked new possibilities for analyzing fossils.
#LucyFossil #HumanEvolution #Australopithecusafarensis #Dinknesh
00:00 – Introduction
01:24 – Why is Lucy So Important?
03:03 – The "Real" Lucy in Ethiopia
03:51 – Fossil Casts
04:38 – Ancient DNA & Beyond
06:43 – Lucy's Lasting Contributions
***
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This video and all media incorporated herein (including text, images, and audio) are the property of the American Museum of Natural History or its licensors, all rights reserved. The Museum has made this video available for your personal, educational use. You may not use this video, or any part of it, for commercial purposes, nor may you reproduce, distribute, publish, prepare derivative works from, or publicly display it without the prior written consent of the Museum.
© American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY
It’s been 50 years since “Lucy,” a 3.2-million-year-old hominid, became one of the most famous fossils in the world. Her relatively complete skeleton (about 40 percent) gave scientists—and the public—an entirely new window into human evolution. Journey back to 1974 to understand why Lucy’s discovery was such big news, then jump forward to explore how cutting-edge technology has radically expanded the study of human evolution from then to now.
Museum Curators Ashley Hammond, Rob DeSalle, and Ian Tattersall break down what we learned from Lucy (known as Dinknesh in Ethiopia) and other fossils of her species, Australopithecus afarensis. They explore the importance of casts—exact replicas of fossils, including the cast of Lucy on view in the Museum’s Anne and Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins—and discuss how new technologies like micro-CT scanning, ancient DNA analysis, and proteomics have unlocked new possibilities for analyzing fossils.
#LucyFossil #HumanEvolution #Australopithecusafarensis #Dinknesh
00:00 – Introduction
01:24 – Why is Lucy So Important?
03:03 – The "Real" Lucy in Ethiopia
03:51 – Fossil Casts
04:38 – Ancient DNA & Beyond
06:43 – Lucy's Lasting Contributions
***
Subscribe to our channel:
youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=AMNHOrg
Check out our full video catalog:
youtube.com/user/AMNHorg
This video and all media incorporated herein (including text, images, and audio) are the property of the American Museum of Natural History or its licensors, all rights reserved. The Museum has made this video available for your personal, educational use. You may not use this video, or any part of it, for commercial purposes, nor may you reproduce, distribute, publish, prepare derivative works from, or publicly display it without the prior written consent of the Museum.
© American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY
