insert_link Africa How old are South African fossils like the Taung Child? New study offers an answer By Francis Thackeray, University of the Witwatersrand One hundred years ago the discovery of a skull in South Africa’s North West province altered our understanding of human evolution. The juvenile skull was dubbed the Taung Child by Raymond Dart, an anatomist at the University of the Witwatersrand, who first described it. In 1924 Dart could not say exactly how old it was, but he […] todayJuly 15, 2024 11
insert_link Environment What the 3.2 million-year-old Lucy fossil reveals about nudity and shame Popular renderings of Lucy tend to dress her in thick, reddish-brown fur. Dave Einsel/Getty Images By Stacy Keltner, Kennesaw State University Fifty years ago, scientists discovered a nearly complete fossilized skull and hundreds of pieces of bone of a 3.2-million-year-old female specimen of the genus Australopithecus afarensis, often described as “the mother of us all.” During a celebration following her discovery, she was named “Lucy,” […] todayJune 24, 2024 14
