Why the 3.2 million year old female skeleton was called Lucy

When I spoke recently at the ClevelandPeople.Com Food Adventurers event at the Ethiopian Restaurant Zoma in Cleveland Heights I  told how several important finds have propelled Ethiopia to the forefront of palaeontology.

This included the several hundred pieces of bone fossils representing 40 percent of the skeleton of a female of the hominin species estimated to have lived 3.2 million years ago that is called Lucy.

Lucy is probably the most well-known hominid discovery. It's offical name is Australopithecus afarensis. Known locally as Dinkinesh, the specimen was found in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar Region in 1974 by paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.  It is one of the most complete and best preserved adult Australopithecine fossils ever uncovered.

There is a cool story how they came up with the name Lucy.  Watch the short video to hear it.

Photos, videos and more from the Ethiopia adventure to Zoma