The discovery that rewrote human evolution theory turns 50

'Deep inside, something told me I had found the earliest human ancestor. I went numb.'

Fifty years ago, the discovery of a partial skeleton amid the barren desert landscape of northern Ethiopia transformed our understanding of where humans came from, and how we developed into Homo sapiens. “Lucy” was first spotted on November 24 1974 by the American paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson and his student assistant Tom Gray. Named after the Beatles’ Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, a popular song in the their team’s camp at the time, it …

The discovery that rewrote human evolution theory turns 50

The discovery of Lucy, a 3.2 million-year-old skeleton, changed our theory of human evolution forever. The discovery is celebrating its 50-year anniversary, and continues to capture human imagination.

Fifty years after the discovery of Lucy, it’s time to ‘decolonise paleoanthropology’ says leading Ethiopian fossil expert – podcast

Yohannes Haile-Selassie is responsible for some of the most remarkable ancient human fossil discoveries in his home country.