CSI Pliocene: Lucy

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CSI Pliocene: Lucy

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When did our ancestors leave the trees and begin to lead a life on solid ground? Some real life CSI has given us a big clue. Lucy—the 3-million-year-old skeleton of one of our oldest known human relatives—was recently on a museum tour of the United States. During her visit, University of Texas scientists examined her skeleton with geological CT scanners, similar to medical CAT scans but with higher resolution. Fossil bones often break as they’re buried, but Lucy’s upper arm showed something unusual. It was compressed, with sharp fracture lines and tiny bone fragments intact. The team called in an orthopedic surgeon, who confirmed that this injury in modern humans only occurs when they extend their arms to try to break a fall from considerable height. So they began to look for other fracture evidence of a fall—and found it, in her ankle, knee, pelvis, and ribs. They then looked to modern chimpanzees, which are about the same size as Lucy. Chimps nest in trees at heights of up to 35 ft, high enough that a fall could result in the same type and degree of fracturing found in Lucy. Further studies using the CT data showed that her ratio of arm strength to leg strength was more like chimps than humans. Both findings suggest that 3 million years ago, our ancestors may have lived a significant part of their lives in the trees.

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