Walking With Lucy | California Academy of Sciences

Appearing next to a full--scale recreation of the famous "Lucy" skeleton (Australopithecus afarensis) in Tusher African Hall, this computer animation compares the distinctive gaits of a chimpanzee, A. afarensis, and modern human, highlighting the trait of upright walking that the latter two share.

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[蔡芷琦-rq]

for those who are looking for notes:
Lucy and chimpanzees share
:
1. elongated skull with small brain case
2. face and jaws that jut out from the brain case
3. shoulder blades and joints that are suited for climbing trees
4. long arms and hands with curved fingers

Lucy and humans share
:
1. spine connection beneath the skull to keep the head steady
2. robust and broad basin-shaped pelvis to support the upper body and hold it upright
3. angled thigh bones that place the weight directly over strong knee joints
4. compact and arched feet that support the full body weight with each step


yeh me here studying for midterm...

[Metalsopher]

Humans really are elegant in the way we walk.

[matthewtheobald]

This animation is amazingly well done. It puts a lot into perspective for me. Being able to see the difference in our height as well as our brain capacity compared to Australopithecus afarensis is just mind-blowing. It's also surprising to see how large the Chimpanzee's pelvis is compared with Hominid's.

[jacoaucamp]

Can you make this video that include le Ardi (ardipithecus) please!!

[ypris]

Thank you so much for posting this. I am doing human biology this semester and it really helped me visualize what my professors were explaining the other day.

[xspector]

Perhaps the only flaw in this otherwise excellent comparison, is that the chimpanzee is a modern animal, so the differences between skeletons represent a divergence rather than a linear progression. In other words, some apes went one way and others went another. However the implication could be construed (erroneously) as representing a development from chimps through Australopithecus to modern humans. It might have been nice to see, in addition to these three, the skeleton of an earlier primate, maybe one that preceded Lucy by a couple of million years. That way a progressive development could be demonstrated as well.

[stellapeus]

We watched this clip in class!!! I am starting to become more and more interested in the Hominid's.

[collinharris]

Fun fact, not all australopithecines were this short. Kadanuumuu, also an Australopithecus afarensis (though nearly 400, 000 years earlier) stood 5-5'6 feet tall. To us this is rather average or below-average, but comparing it with the 3'5 or so Lucy, this is very tall. It is pretty likely that many australopithecines rivaled us in height, which is very interesting to think about!

[Roachrancher]

Interesting for sure. Do you have any info about Lucy's chest and ribs? Im asking because that part seems very different from both chimp's and human's.

[tonyfendex]

No wonder why Lucy is SO FAMOUS!!! I'm so happy I found this video. It TELLS A Thanks!!!

[NehaNegi-ie]

Pmo with less width forhead shadow on tags, small width matha yahan tak fly rehte hain with brown hP flashlight from K area ka actually bedroom same direction mein glass workd bnaye hain

[XIIF]

Great explain. thanks to Californie Academy of Sciences for great animations and free content.

[victoriapug]

I love learning about the history of our origins

[imrankhanyousafzai]

No audio for some reason. I checked both on my phone and my laptop.

[thevoyagerv]

Many in the comment section claiming that Lucy is fake, but are not providing a source (Unsurprisingly). If you are willing to, then provide a source that debunks Lucy.

[MossyMozart]

This video is simple, clear, and makes the point. Good job!

[Poebat]

Cool!! I'm learning about Lucy in school!

[dollsminilives]

can we get this same animation with Paracas human race (DNA prove different than us) please

[mona-xfmr]

What caused them to start walking on 2s instead of 4s

[patrickmccurry]

Wonderful animation, but it looks a hint exaggerated. My arm proportions are in between Lucy and Human. When I was 12, I could scratch my kneecaps without bending due to my growth spurt being in sections.