Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 107, Issue 27, Pages 12121-12126Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1004527107
Keywords
bipedality; human evolution; upright walking; hominid; thorax
Categories
Funding
- National Science Foundation [BCS-0234320, BCS-0542037, BCS-0321893]
- Leakey Foundation
- Wenner-Gren Foundation
- National Geographic Society
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Only one partial skeleton that includes both forelimb and hindlimb elements has been reported for Australopithecus afarensis. The diminutive size of this specimen (A. L. 288-1 [Lucy]) has hampered our understanding of the paleobiology of this species absent the potential impact of allometry. Here we describe a large-bodied (i.e., well within the range of living Homo) specimen that, at 3.58 Ma, also substantially antedates A. L. 288-1. It provides fundamental evidence of limb proportions, thoracic form, and locomotor heritage in Australopithecus afarensis. Together, these characteristics further establish that bipedality in Australopithecus was highly evolved and that thoracic form differed substantially from that of either extant African ape.
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