Australopithecus afarensis is one of the best-known human predecessors that were ever unearthed, who lived from three to four million years ago in Eastern and Southern Africa. It is also one of the first ancestors of an actual Homo sapiens who combined its ad apes’ characteristics. If we look at the images that scientists came up with when they tried to rebuild initial appearance of the hominids, we will find nothing in common with a modern human being. Australopithecus afarensis looks more like an ape – he has a flat and wide nose, heavy lower jaw with a small braincase. However, if we take a closer look, we can understand that Australopithecus afarensis marked the historical point, from which humans started to develop. He managed to walk upright all the time and some teeth that he had were uncommon to apes. This paper examines anatomical and social characteristics of Australopithecus afarensis and proves that this find was essential for the world anthropology. It also compares them to the great African apes, chimps and Homo sapiens and raises the question that hasn’t been answered for years: where does Australopithecus afarensis belong? Is he more an ape or a human being?
Australopithecus afarensis is a key part of the evolutionary chain. Without him, the development of evolution wouldn’t make much sense. Although he looks a lot more like a chimp than a modern human, many anatomical characteristics prove the opposite. At first, let’s look at his anatomy. In his paper on Australopithecines, Hunt mentions some of the important anatomical characteristics that puzzle anthropologists. As it turns out, Australopithecus afarensis is pretty close and pretty far away from both Homo sapiens and African apes. Australopithecus afarensis doesn’t have an external nose like humans do. His nose resembles that of chimps. However, there are a lot of features that are very uncommon to apes. He “differs from chimpanzees and vary in the direction of modern humans in having a large calcaneus (heel bone), a robust tibial platform, a valgus femur, a quite human like pelvis, a long lower back, short fingers and longer, more powerful thumbs.” (Hunt 3) If we look at the images of Australopithecus afarensis, one thing that is noticeable right away is wide chest and wide waist. In comparison to Homo sapiens, he has much longer arms and fingers and shorter legs. His has something to do with the diet of Australopithecus afarensis. It’s known that he consumed vegetables and fruits that were growing high on the trees, and his arms allowed him to reach for the food. Homo sapiens didn’t need to climb anywhere, but rather run, as his main source of food was animals. As a result, his arms became shorter, which helped him develop a higher speed. Australopithecus afarensis, on the contrary, had short legs, which indicates that he didn’t chase other animals and consumed purely natural food.
The size of Australopithecus afarensis differs according to their gender. In their book called “From Lucy To Language”, Johanson and Edgar claim that there was a huge size difference between the genders; the weight of males reached 45 kg, and females were 40 percent lighter, which made them 29 kg heavy. They also spot sexual dimorphism: while males were 1.5 meters tall, females only reached 1 meter (Johanson and Edgar 57). This makes Australopithecus afarensis look very distinct from the great African apes that were much bigger in size and didn’t have such a vivid sexual dimorphism. We can also notice that these specimens are much smaller and lighter than the great apes, which also moves them closer to Homo sapiens.
As I have already mentioned, Australopithecus afarensis mainly ate natural food that they gathered from bushes and trees. This was proved when anthropologists had a closer look at the teeth of our ancestors. Ungar noticed that wisdom teeth and several molars had obvious signs of wear. This indicates that Australopithecus afarensis ate seeds, nuts and sweet fruits. Having noticed the signs of wear on their teeth, scientists figured that Australopithecus afarensis also consumed much harder foods like roots and forest plants.
Australopithecus afarensis lived in Africa, where the climate varies from subtropical to tropical. Many skeletons were unearthed in Ethiopia. They were surrounded by rivers and forests and enjoyed the advantages of savannas. As they were covered in fur, they wouldn’t survive if the climate got too hot, and they needed water and shadow to hide from excessive warmth.
The name of the most complete skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis was named Lucy. Homids like Lucy lived in small groups that contained both males and females. According to Researchnews.osu.edu, the lifestyle of Australopithecus afarensis reminded anthropologists of the behavior of chimps and humans rather than gorillas and orangutans. Competition wasn’t as strong as it was in the groups of the latter. They cooperated with each other, which made them more “humanlike”. Instead of competing with each other (which still remained an important part of their society), Australopithecus afarensis specimens provided food for their families together and protected each other in case of danger. They indeed seem to behave a lot like neighbors of the human society. Their families were purely patriarchal, where a male played the most important role. He provided for the family and protected it from the outer danger. Female Australopithecus afarensis were thought to develop strong bonds with their children that they raised until they were capable of living by themselves.
Having said that, I couldn’t find the answer to the ultimate question: was Australopithecus afarensis closer to chimps of to Homo sapiens? The booked called “Java Man” also mentions differences and similarities between the two and talks about the long-lasting debate among anthropologists. One opinion stands for the fact that Australopithecus afarensis has a combination of traits of Homo sapiens and animals, and travelled a long way to reach full bipedality. (Swisher, Curtis and Lewin 135). However, other scientists still believe that “our ancestor is still viewed as being embarked on a journey, marching toward being a full-fledged upright walker, just like modern humans” (Swisher, Curtis and Lewin 135).
This paper looked into one of the earliest human ancestors, Australopithecus afarensis, and talked about his anatomy, geographical characteristics, diet and social behavior. There are many features that are so close to us. That is why finding the skeleton of Lucy, the most complete Australopithecus afarensis, marked an important stage in anthropology. When studying Australopithecus afarensis and other hominids, anthropologists get a better idea of how our ancestors lived, how they behaved in the society, which diseases they suffered from and how their minds functioned. The question of the diseases is especially important, because nowadays scientists are working on curing many diseases, and the knowledge of the past might help them enormously.
Bibliography
Ungar, Peter. "Dental Topography and Diets of Australopithecus Afarensis and Early Homo." Http://users.clas.ufl.edu.
Hunt, Kevin D. "Australopithecines, Australopiths." Http://www.indiana.edu.
Curtis, Garniss, and Carl Celso. Swisher. Java Man. London: Little, Brown, 2000.
Johanson, Donald, and Blake Edgar. From Lucy To Language. 1996.
"Australian Museum." Australopithecus Afarensis -. Accessed February 17, 2016. http://australianmuseum.net.au/australopithecus-afarensis.
"Early Hominids May Have Behaved More "Human" Than We Had Thought." Early Hominids May Have Behaved More "Human" Than We Had Thought. Accessed February 18, 2016. http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/dimorph.htm.
