The Selam and Lucy Species Used Tools: Cutting Edge Research on Some Ancient Cuts

Pritzker Lecture:  Humans evolved as a result of a series of key anatomical and behavioral transformations following their divergence from the chimpanzees, about 7 million years ago. Understanding what makes us human today therefore depends on how much we know about the processes and evolutionary mechanisms that made us who we are over time and within the context of the changing environments and ecologies present during and after the split from the chimpanzee lineage. Among the key questions are the timing and patterns associated with the emergence of upright walking, tool use and meat eating, modern body plans and increased encephalization seen in modern humans, as well as the nature of childhood and symbolism in our early human ancestors. Paleoanthropologists strive to investigate the tempo and mode of these key events through both field and lab research. Recently, scientists under the direction of Dr. Zeray Alemseged made a fascinating discovery which pushed back the date of the earliest tool use in our lineage by about 1 million years, indicating for the first time that the species Australopithecus afarensis used tools and consumed animal meat. The new discovery shows that the Selam and Lucy species was much more human-like behaviorally than was hitherto thought. This startling find has major implications for our understanding of human evolution.

Speaker: Zeray Alemseged Curator and Irvine Chair of Anthropology, California Academy of Sciences

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