[xtypo_dropcap]A[/xtypo_dropcap] 3.6 million-year-old partial skeleton of a hominid has been discovered by an international team led by Cleveland Museum of Natural History Curator and Head of Physical Anthropology Dr. Yohannes Haile-Selassie.
The hominid, nicknamed “Kadanuumuu” (meaning big man) by the researchers, is thought to belong to the species Australopithecus afarensis, which is the same as the famous skeleton named Lucy that was discovered in 1974. Kadanuumuu lived 400,000 years before Lucy, and is much bigger. While Lucy is about 3.5 feet tall, Kadanuumuu is 5 to 5.5 feet tall.
The specimen of Kadanuumuu includes the most complete clavicle and one of the most complete shoulder blades in the human fossil record, along with a significant portion of the rib cage.
The discovery shows that upright walking occurred much earlier than previously thought.
“This individual was fully bipedal and had the ability to walk almost like modern humans,” Haile-Selassie said in a press release. “As a result of this discovery, we can now confidently say that ‘Lucy’ and her relatives were almost as proficient walking on two legs as we are.”
Kadanuumuu and Lucy are the only skeletons assigned to the species Australopithecus afarensis.
“The new specimen has more complete ribs and a nearly complete scapula, which tells us much more about body form in Australopithecus afarensis than ‘Lucy’ was able to alone,” said Kent State University Professor Dr. C. Owen Lovejoy.
It took over five years for the research team to completely excavate Kadanuumuu after discovering his lower arm bone in 2005.
The initial analysis of Kadanuumuu was published in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of June 21.
To see a video interview with Dr. Dr. Haile-Selassie, please visit http://tiny.cc/ms30x
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