Human Skeleton of Australopithecus Lucy - Essay Example

The skeleton showed evidence of the bipedal upright posture. The skeleton was 3ft 7in tall and weighed approximately 64 pounds. The skeleton had a similar appearance to that of a chimpanzee (Tomkins, n.p). The skeleton had a smaller skull, hence, a smaller brain than that of humans. However, the structure of the pelvic and leg bones was identical to that of Homo sapiens sapiens, which suggested that they performed similar functions to those of modern man and walked in an upright position (Institute of Human Origins, n.d).

The archeological findings were re-constructed at the University of Cleveland by Owen Lovejoy (Institute of Human Origins, n.d). Another factor that showed that Lucy walked upright was her valgus knee; her greater trochanter was short and similar to that of humans (Institute of Human Origins, n.d). Her feet were also discovered to be physiologically flat. The reconstruction of her sacrum showed it had a broad iliac flare, broad inner acetabular distance, and a long superior pubic ramus (Institute of Human Origins, n.d).

Her pubic arch was similar to that of humans. She had a smaller cranium and spatulate canines. Her cranial capacity as mentioned above was smaller than that of humans. Her mandible showed similarities to that of gorillas (Institute of Human Origins, n.d).