ABOUT 5 MILLION YEARS AGO
Appearance of Australopithecus:
The first type of hominid known to modern man is Australopithecus . This name comes from the Latin “australo” which means “which comes from the south” and from the Greek “pithèque” which means “monkey”. Australopithecus is no longer quite an ape, nor is he quite a man.
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It grows in Africa.
- It measures between 1.3 and 1.5 meters.
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He has powerful jaws. It eats tough plants and roots.
- The structure of its skull is very similar to that of orangutans. He has a small brain .
- It has a very archaic character .
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The structure of his hands is very similar to that of modern man except for the first phalanx of the thumb. This does not allow him to perform movements identical to ours.
- He stands upright, but not completely straight. This allows him to walk more easily than on all fours and he can therefore more easily spot dangerous animals. It was the first bipedal hominid Of the history. This means that it walks or runs more than half the time using its two hind limbs.
- He begins to work on objects and perform braiding. He also cuts stones.
Lucy's skeleton:
It was discovered in 1974 in Ethiopia. He is nicknamed Lucy because paleontologists listened to “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds ” from the Beatles when they were listing the discovered bones.
Between the appearance of the first apes (about 30 million years ago) and Australopithecines (about 5 million years ago), 25 million years passed.
Useful link:
Youtube video :Lucy in the sky with diamonds