Lucy the Australopithecus afarensis species lived in Ethiopia 3.2 million years ago. The fossils were first discovered in 1974 and the scientists were quick to recognise (after studying the structure of her knees and the shape of the spine) one important similarity between Lucy and modern humans – the ability to walk upright. The remains of Lucy is currently held in the National Museum in Addis Ababa, very close to the place she was first found. The formal discovery of Lucy is credited to Donald Johanson, Maurice Taieb, Yves Coppens and Tom Gray. ‘Lucy’ was named after the Beatles song ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’.
