* a cd s cl * . Ld J 4 a i reg eee ry erect rr~ LUCY’S BABY An ancient infant skeleton yields new insight into how humans evolved to walk upright BY KATE WONG. HE ARID BADLANDS OF ETHIOPIA'S REMOTE AFAR REGION HAVE LONG BEEN A FAVORITE hunting ground for paleoanthropologists. Many hominins—the group that includes all the creatures in the human line since it branched away from that of the chimps: once called it home. The area is perhaps best known for having yielded “Lucy,” the million-year-old skeleton of a human ancestor known as Australopithecus afar- ensis. In 2006 researchers unveiled another incredible A. afarensis specimen from asite called Dikika, just four kilometers from where Lucy turned up. But unlike Lucy, who was well into adulthood by the time she died, the recently discovered fossil is that of an infant, one who lived 3.3 million years ago (and yet has nonetheless been dubbed “Lucy's baby”). Researchers working innate Eig comple seleton the cates about hn our ancestors base biped 3 touetherensins of abeby Avalos fr cildinthe human os cod The Dianna siete the 3 sis aspocosbslovedtoboancssl to ourown. Preserving bones neve bore known or other body pars changed | ——-Some’nillonyearsolg,haspecaely Aarts thespian rieng questions ‘er the cue of man eon ScinticAmerian.som 5No other hominin skeleton of such antiquity—ineluding Lacy—is as complete as this one. Moreover, asthe earliest juve- nile hominin ever found, the Dikika ebild provides an wnprec- fedented opportunity to study growth processes in our ancient relatives “IF Lucy was the greatest fossil discovery of the 20th, century.” says Donald C. Johanson of Arizona State Universi ‘who unearthed the famed fossil in 1974, “then this baby is the greatest find of the 21st thus fa Ethiopia to announce the discovery, they christened the child Selam—"peace” in several Bthiopian languages—in hopes of en- couraging harmony among the warring tribes of Afar. ‘The skeleton, judged to be that of a three-year-old git, consists ofa virwally complete skull, the entire torso, and parts fof the arms and legs. Even the knoeeaps—which are no larger ‘than macadamia nutsare preserved. Many of the bones are still in articulation, Hominin fossils this MN cope ae incr rare, and ones of RUNDLE OF Joy ‘ fants are rarer still because their bones are WAS THE AFTERNOON of December 10, 2000, “You don’t that much more fragile. Indeed, the next ‘wen fos hunters ted by Zeresenay Alem fast magically slestskeleton ofa jens that is comparably Seed, nowat the California Academy ose Gin waaie intact i a Neandertal baby dating to around ‘ences in San Francisco, spotted the specimen, ip 50,000 years ago. Only part ofits tiny face was visible; most of the rest of the skeleton was entombed in a rmelon-size block of sandstone. But “right, away it was elear it was a hominin Alem seged recollets, noting the smoothness of the brow and the small size of the canine teeth, among other humanlike characteristis, Fur- ther evaluation, however, would have to wait until the fossil was cleaned—a painstaking process in whieh the cementike matrix is re= ‘moved from the bone almost grain by grain evolutionary switch some- where and transmute a quadruped into an upright- walking bipedal WALKING VS. CLIMBING "IE EXCEPTIONAL. PRESERVATION of Selam, as wells that of other animals found atthe site, Indicates to team geologist Jonathan G. Wynn of the University of South Florida that her body was buried shortly after death by a flood event. Whether she perished in the flood or before it is unknoven, Although she was only three when she died, Setam already possessed the distinctive vith dental tools. hanian? charactersis of her specks. Her projecting Te took Alemseged five years to expose key Snot and narrow nas bones, for example, clements ofthe ei’ anatomy he continues Donald C. pesaiystinguisn ner fom another ancient, to analyze bones revealed since then. Still, the Johanson youngster, the so-called Tung child trom find has aleeady surrendered precious Insights into species that most researchers believe gave rise to our own. ‘genus, Homo. Alemseged and his colleagues described the fos- sil and its geologic and paleontological context in two papers published in 2006 in Nature. And ata press conference held in 6 Sclentine American ‘South Africa, who was a member ofthe close ly related Austradepithecus africanns species. And her lower jaw resembles mandibles from Hadar, the site where Lucy and a ‘number of other. aferensis individuals were found. Selam also exhibits the same mash-up of trait in ostera-ee | a eee eee Pir eee ener Cee ary paste pier sa ees Pre ce KONSO: A bose Se ea) ST eee aaa Tecra Ceres ener} eee Cradle to Grave See ee eo Dee Ne eee ae eee es ioe east Cee ete) Pe ee eet tT ey Cee collected it. But they continued to comb ce eee Cre cet ry acs eedPend Se ee eee es reels eee es ees A. afarensis the bones beloved one peer es ees Cees ee ers A. farenss opposed tothe eee cree Ceo Spectacular Skeleton a cee Ce ered ea eeeti) ae etd etre relative to chimps, which sa Cen eee eee ea eee ree eee eer ees poner ecee) Sees eas eee een) eam eee 8 60,000-yea-old Neandertal ee gests that A fens had ee ee eet ce aty eee eid eee eee heal or example, acts 2 eee ee eee re) Cte Chas eared Pere Eee od shoulder blade, o seapuia eee eg Pe ee eet een Ty ees eet Ceara Stara Eons Ce err td Petnial skeleton that has long irked se entists interested in how A. afarensis moved around the landscape. Schot- ars agree that A, afmensis was acrea- ture that got around capably on two legs, But starting in the 1980s, a de- Date erupted over whether the spo- ies was also adapted for life in the trees. The argument centered on the ‘observation that whereas the species hngs clear adaptations to bipedal walk Ing tn its lower body, its upper body contains a number of primitive traits Dotter suited to an arboreal existence, sueh as long, curved fingers for grasp: ing tree branches. One camp held that A. teensis had made a full transition to terrestrial life and ‘hat the tree-triendly features of the upper body were just evolu- tionary baggage handed down from an arboreal ancestar. The other side contended that i. afarensis had retained those traits for hundreds of thousands of yeas, then tree elimbing maust have still formed an important part ofits locomotor repertoire. Like her conspecifis, Selam has Tegs built for walking and fingers built for climbing. But she also brings new data to the controversy in the form of two shoulder blades, oF seapullac— "TRAM LED BY Fihiopian paleoanthropologist “eresenay Alomsoged found Selanis remains. bones previously unknown for this species. According to Alemseged, her scapulae look most like those of go- nila. The upward-facing shoulder socket is particularly apelike, con- ‘rasting sharply withthe laterally fac- ing socket modern humans have. This orientation, Alemseged points cout, may have facilitated raising the hhands above the head~something primates do when they climb. (Al- though gorillas do not climb as adults, they do spend time in the trees as youngsters) Further hints of arboreal tendencies re side inthe baby's inner ear. Using comput- ed tomographic imaging, the team was abe to glimpse her seni circular eanal system, which is important for maintaining bal- ance. The researchers determined that Selamis semicircular canals are similar to those of African apes and 4, africans. Tis, they suggest, could indicate that A. afrensis was not as fast and agile on two legs as we modern humans are. It ould also mean that. afarensis was limited in ts ability to decouple the move- ments of its head and torso, a feat that seems to play « key role in endurance running in our own species. What Readers Wanted to Know In an earlier version ofthis article, posted on our Web site, we invited readers to submit any questions they hhad about Selam. Kate Wong answered their questions in the blog. An edited selection of those exchanges follows. How was Selam’s age at death assessed? —Stophon Az Selamis aoe was esimated based onher apparent stage Astron inciviguals rom theses of Heda, Laeto and Maka, the Dikka cid teeth ‘grouped closely wth those of Oferta deveeprent. Using conf feraes. compsable dita orn fan apes the researches judged What i the uncertainty of her tobe about three year te measurement ofthe age whan se died But af afossillke Selam? What Ausaoptiecstawrsi.00 technology iesed? doubt had a developer —Juan Moreira schedule that dilered irom that of chimps end grils 50 this is only an educated guess A: Diana C. Roman ofthe University of South Fido cate the fossil by ascerairing the ages ofthe layers of volcanic Horo was.sex determined? ash around Salam. One layer Debra Martin was deposited before th cid Az The skeletons blower ed the other was deposed tobe that ofafemale based on sometime afer she died. By computed tomographic measure- _interpoltng the poston ofthe ments ofthe fully formed peranent oot crown sul ebecdedin the jaws ‘When compared with mea- surements of teeth from {ons relive to those wo layers, oman determined that the fst ‘was between 331 millon and 3235, rilion years dan uncertainty .0F 40000 yess. What'sthe big deal? We with .afarensisfinds that know that our ancestorshad would indicate what kind of focome daron out ofthe trees environment they lived in? sometime. Kids nowadays Traveler have a predilection for climbing trees too. (Maybe ‘an unconscious link to an ‘arboreal past®) Matthew T. A: The question i to whet extent, A. afro was adapted for tr restralty. No ones suggesting that A afore could nt et up Frtoa vee under ony creur- slonces—as you comecty point A: Tho anil fs fund ‘at Dik incite thatthe child inhabited @ moist. mosaic en- vironment composed of wood: lands and graslands, with per ‘manent water nearby. This is ‘vary similar tothe envitoament In which Lucy and ether repres- certatives of aren ed ut, humans ean sill do that—the What does the animal harve detoteisoverwhetheritwas ——toguin from being-able to adapted todo so l’sabig deal engage in endurance because bipedal sa hallmark ‘of human evlution, so paleoan- thropologiss are eager to under stand the deals of ow it running? —Donald MeMiken A: Endurance running has been hypothasizad to have given early humans leg up you wil in ‘merged. hunting or seavening, by allowing ther to wear the prey Are there any plant or cut or reach the carcass faster, ‘animalfossils associated respectively. SeiontineAmercan om 9