Lucy

From Origin Stories by The Leakey Foundation

November 27, 2024 · 29 min · Episode 85

About this episode

This episode celebrates the 50th anniversary of the discovery of Lucy, featuring Don Johanson discussing the significance of this pivotal fossil.

In this episode, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the discovery of Lucy, one of the most iconic and important scientific discoveries ever made. Paleoanthropologist Don Johanson tells the story of his early scientific career and the pivotal moment when he discovered 3.2 million-year-old hominin fossils in Ethiopia's Afar region. It's a story that connects us to our deepest roots and shows how one remarkable fossil changed our view of what it means to be human. Links to learn more: Lucy and the Taung Child: A Century of Science - from The Leakey Foundation Institute of Human Origins Lucy 50—A Year for Human Origins Lucy 50th Anniversary Video Playlist from the Institute of Human Origins How the Famous Lucy Fossil Revolutionized the Study of Human Origins - Scientific American Quadruple your impact: Through December 31 all donations will be quadruple-matched! Donate now to quadruple your impact on human origins science and education. Your tax-deductible donation will be matched 4x! Click to donate to The Leakey Foundation today ! Sponsors This episode is generously sponsored by the Leis family in honor of Jorge Leis, who has served on The Leakey Foundation board of trustees…

People in this episode

Guest: Don Johanson

Topics covered

paleoanthropology
human origins
scientific discovery
fossils
history of science

Keywords

Lucy
paleoanthropology
hominin fossils
Ethiopia
human evolution
Don Johanson
scientific discovery

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Leakey Foundation, Scientific American

Books & works: Lucy

Places: Ethiopia, Afar region