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How complete is Lucy's fossil skeleton?

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Side view illustration of Australopithecus afarensis, an early human ancestor, shown walking upright with a hairy body and ape-like facial features. A scale beside the figure marks 12 inches and 40 centimeters. — Australopithecus Artist's rendering of *Australopithecus afarensis*, which lived from 3.8 to 2.9 million years ago.

The fossil skeleton known as Lucy is remarkably complete, with approximately 40 percent of the individual's remains recovered. Discovered in 1974 by paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson at the Hadar site in Ethiopia, this specimen is classified as Australopithecus afarensis and dates back 3.2 million years.12