How old is the Lucy fossil?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

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 Lucy fossil, a remarkably complete skeleton of the hominin species Australopithecus afarensis, is dated to 3.2 million years ago.1

Discovered in 1974 at the Hadar site in Ethiopia by paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson, the specimen provides significant insight into human evolution, particularly regarding the development of bipedal locomotion.12