Lecture by Dr Donald Johanson, discoverer of the fossile known as "Lucy", at the Molecular Frontiers Symposium "On Human Origins and the Future of Humanity", at Lund University April 18-19, 2024. The symposium was co-organized with Lund University and the Royal Physiographic Society of Lund.
ABSTRACT:
Lucy, the 3.2 million-year-old skeleton found in Ethiopia’s Afar Triangle half a century ago, prompted a redrawing of the human family tree, placing her species, Australopithecus afarensis, as the last common ancestor to two evolutionary lineages, one that led to extinction and the other to, Homo sapiens. She reminds us of our ape ancestry and raises questions as to how her species survived for nearly a million years and what climatic changes may have prompted the later diversification of hominin species. She now serves as ambassador to our roots, and inspires a deeper understanding our place in nature and our responsibility as stewards of Planet Earth.
28 сен 2024
