Possible future discoveries?
Possible Weaknesses
- More skeleton remains of hominids
- Animal remains to prove theory that they were killed
- Footprints
- Most of the skeletal elements found at AL 333 were bits and pieces.
- Estimates have fluctuated from five to twenty two individuals.
- The difference in size between Lucy's petite bones and more massive ones found at Hadar also puzzled paleoanthropologists
- the fossils show few signs of weathering or attack by predators
First Family of Hadar
Works Cited
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/humans/riddle/same.html
(Australopithecus afarensis)
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AL_333
http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/australopithecus-afarensis
Circumstances of the find
By: Jessica Stephan
CHW 3M1
September 27, 2013
Australopithecus Afarensis
Afar Triangle, Ethiopia
Donald Johanson, Paleoanthropologist
What new information was gained?
- The individuals of the "First Family" became very useful to study the biological phenomenon of sexual dimorphism.
- Early testing displayed results that Australopithecus afarensis had similar dimorphism to modern humans.
- The variation is due to age and not the sex of the individuals.
Summary
- Discovered in 1975 by Donald Johanson's team in Hadar, Ethiopia (Afar Triangle)
- 13 individuals -- likely 9 adults and 4 children
- The "First Family" was found between two layers of volcanic ash, helped to come to the conclusion that the find is about 3 million years old.
- Consists of the remains of at least thirteen hominids; finds lacked extensive weathering.
- Believe that Lucy and the family could be the same species
- The adults of this group varied in height and weight,
- Males were tall and bulky compared to the females
"Lucy", an Australopithecus afarensis, was found a year before the First Family, and is the most famous of the Hadar discoveries.
- The First Family of Hadar are extremely important to support the theory of human evolution
- Killed by an animal
- All died in a similar time period, but not all at once.
- All were of the species A. Afarensis