Famous fossil Lucy scanned at the University of Texas at Austin

February 6, 2009
a full-scale model of Lucy

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin, in collaboration with the Ethiopian government, have completed the first high-resolution CT scan of the world's most famous fossil, Lucy, an ancient human ancestor who lived 3.2 million years ago.

Lucy is in the United States as part of a world premiere exhibit organized by the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

John Kappelman, professor of anthropology in the College of Liberal Arts, led the scientific team that conducted the scan of Lucy, whose remains include about 40 percent of her skeleton, making her the oldest and most complete skeleton of any adult, erect-walking human fossil.

"By examining the internal architecture of Lucy's bones, we can study how her skeleton supported her movement and posture, and compare that to modern humans and apes," Kappelman said. "Because Lucy is so complete, she is one of the few fossils that permit us to compare how she used her arms versus how she used her legs. These new data will allow us to examine the theory that she climbed about in the trees, as well as walked on two legs when she was on the ground."

Famous fossil Lucy scanned at the University of Texas at Austin
Enlarge

Several of Lucy's skeletal elements, including the right distal radius (arm bone), were scanned with an ultra high-resolution Xradia MicroXCT scanner in the High-resolution X-ray CT Facility at The University of Texas at Austin. Custom-built foam mounts were constructed to safely hold the specimens in the scanner. Each of the 80 pieces was carefully examined before and after scanning to ensure that no damage occurred during the project. Photo: Marsha Miller/The University of Texas at Austin

Although Lucy is small (about one meter tall), her contribution to science has been large. She represents a distinct species of human ancestor, known as Australopithecus afarensis, or "southern ape of Afar," in reference to where the bones were found.

Prior to the 1974 discovery of Lucy, some theories of evolution suggested human-like intelligence evolved before upright posture (bipedalism). But the existence of ancient bipeds like Lucy refutes this theory because their brain is not significantly larger than that of a modern chimpanzee.

The Ethiopian government entrusted Lucy to Kappelman and Richard Ketcham, associate professor of geological sciences in the Jackson School of Geosciences and director of the university's High-Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography Facility, one of the world's premier labs for this work.

Scientists at the facility have scanned thousands of delicate fossils and biological specimens, including irreplaceable items such as the brain case of Archaeopteryx (one of the oldest and most primitive birds known). Because CT allows scientists to see inside fossils without doing any harm, it has become one of the most powerful tools for studying precious, one-of-a-kind specimens.

"We have more experience scanning natural history objects and dealing with the issues that can arise in scanning natural material than any other lab in the world," Ketcham said. "The equipment is constantly updated and we've created a large, specialized toolkit to process the scan data and to extract the maximum amount of information from it. There's no other place the Ethiopian government could have sent Lucy to get better imagery or to acquire it more safely."

For 10 days the university team worked around the clock to scan all 80 pieces of Lucy's skeleton. The scientists created custom-built foam mounts to safely hold the specimens in the scanner. And each piece was carefully examined before and after scanning to ensure that no damage occurred during the project.

The successful completion of Lucy's scan means that the specimen is now safely archived in digital format, another of the reasons behind the scanning.

"These scans will ensure that future generations are familiar with Lucy," said Jara Mariam, director general of Ethiopia's Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage, "and will know of Ethiopia's central contribution to the study of human evolution. A virtual Lucy will be able to visit every classroom on the planet."

"In some ways, scanning Lucy was the easy part," Ketcham said. For the next several months, the research team, consisting of scientists from all around the country, will be reviewing and processing the data and generating images to analyze Lucy's skeleton and begin to answer important questions ranging from whether she climbed among the tree branches to how she chewed.

This ancient hominin, whom Ethiopians call "Dinkenesh" ("You are beautiful"), is the feature attraction in the exhibit, "Lucy's Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia," which is touring the United States. More than a quarter million people viewed the fossil at Houston Museum of Natural Science during 2007 and 2008. After the brief layover in Austin for the scan, Lucy moved to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle where she is on exhibit through March.

Kappelman said the university's scanning project represents a model for future collaborations between public educational programs and scientific research.

"There is an understandable tension between museum curators, who like to display fossils, and scientists who want to conduct research on the specimens," Kappelman said. "Our project demonstrates these goals are not mutually exclusive—but mutually beneficial. The museum exhibit that features Lucy offers a once in a lifetime opportunity to introduce millions of people to the actual evidence for human evolution, and seeing the real fossil is so much more meaningful than viewing a plastic replica."

"Having Lucy here also means that scientists can conduct research that asks new questions about the fossil and this knowledge feeds back into the ongoing exhibit and continues to educate," Kappelman said. "Lucy may be old, but she still has lots of new secrets to tell."

Source: University of Texas at Austin

2.9 /5 (9 votes)  

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

THEY
Feb 06, 2009

Rank: not rated yet
This must be old news. I just saw Lucy last week, she has been here (in Seattle) for several months. Good to hear she has been scanned though. It will make it much easier for others to research her bones.
brant
Feb 06, 2009

Rank: 2 / 5 (4)
Lucy is a hoax. Read the exact reports of her discovery....

But she is fine.....
Ethelred
Feb 07, 2009

Rank: not rated yet
Would you care to post a link showing the alleged hoax?

Bet its a crank site.

You could try reading the book.

Ethelred
shawnev1
Feb 07, 2009

Rank: 1 / 5 (2)
Ricky is still pretty upset with his loss. Fred and Ethal are helping him deal with it.
tkjtkj
Feb 07, 2009

Rank: 4 / 5 (1)
To state that she was not intelligent based on brain size seems a bit inappropriate at the least! By such a standard we must therefore bow to the vastly superior intellect of the elephant and the whale, who must be doing calculus and string-theory without benefit of pencil and paper!
(BTW, am i the only one who cant copy/paste these new pages, preventing me from quoting from articles into these 'Comment' fields?? .. or is it my Firefox??
Any ideas welcome: tkjtkj@gmail.com
Sean_W
Feb 07, 2009

Rank: not rated yet
She's hot.
shawnev1
Feb 07, 2009

Rank: not rated yet
Ricky is still pretty upset with his loss. Fred and Ethal are helping him deal with it.

What's poor little Ricky going to do with out a mom?
LuckyBrandon
Feb 07, 2009

Rank: not rated yet
brant-anyone who thinks that lucy is a hoax is about an idiot. NOBODY guards a skeleton such as Lucy's like the ethiopian government does when its a hoax, and even more so, turns it over for scientific study. if it was a hoax, it would have been EXTREMELY WIDELY publicized as such as soon as it was found out. the skeleton was found in 1974...if you think it wouldnt have been absolutely proven as a hoax, and be widely known public knowledge as a hoax in the 25 yrs its been around, then you truly truly are a moron...enough said there...
i agree with ethelred, or what i think they meant anyways...post your proof, or get the hell out...
Ethelred
Feb 08, 2009

Rank: not rated yet
To state that she was not intelligent based on brain size seems a bit inappropriate at the least! By such a standard we must therefore bow to the vastly superior intellect of the elephant and the whale, who must be doing calculus and string-theory without benefit of pencil and paper!


Lucy is about the same body size as a chimp and has about the same brain size as well. Brain mass to body mass is fairly good indicator of intelligence, at least up to a point. Sonar seems to take a lot of brain tissue for instance.

(BTW, am i the only one who cant copy/paste these new pages, preventing me from quoting from articles into these 'Comment' fields?? .. or is it my Firefox??
Any ideas welcome: tkjtkj@gmail.com


What do you mean by "thes new pages"? Is it a copy issue or a paste issue? I am using Firefox 3.06 with NoScript. I usually use Notepad to write my posts because I have accidentally clicked away somehow and lost what I typed into the comment box too many times in the past. Copy what I want into Notepad, write what I need then Control A Control C in Notepad click on the comment box and Control V to paste it all in. Then I read it in the comment box to double check my post for the usual stupid errors.

Ethelred
Rupert
Feb 09, 2009

Rank: not rated yet
I have been wondering in CT technology is the key to reading the mouldering Mayan book that was discovered in the shaman's tomb in the great Mayan site of Copan Honduras. It was described in the literature as extremely fragile. University of Pennsylvania Museum is excavating the site.
Rank 2.9 /5 (9 votes)
Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • Mitosis
    created5 hours ago
  • Stem cell question.
    created6 hours ago
  • Protease cleavage
    created12 hours ago
  • Pertubance in a model
    created19 hours ago
  • Cancer drugs and Alzheimer's, Oh my!
    createdFeb 09, 2012
  • Squishing cells
    createdFeb 09, 2012
  • More from Physics Forums - Biology

More news stories

A frank discussion of the power law and linking correlation to causation

(PhysOrg.com) -- Michael Stumpf a mathematics professor at Imperial College in London, and Mason Porter a lecturer at Oxford have teamed together to write and publish a perspective piece in Science regarding the in ...

Other Sciences / Mathematics

created 19 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 7 | with audio podcast report

Employers feel no love for unscrupulous practice of 'service sweethearting'

A new study led by two Florida State University marketing professors finds that some frontline service employees who are rewarded for hikes in customer loyalty and satisfaction also may engage in "service ...

Other Sciences / Economics & Business

created 13 hours ago | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 6

The question of life in the ancient world

There’s a general feeling that we don’t get the Greeks – ancient or modern. Many, including heads of state like Angela Merkel, visibly shake their head in exasperation, rightly or wrongly, at ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created 18 hours ago | popularity 1.3 / 5 (3) | comments 4

Sonic Cradle lands spot in TED exhibition

A Simon Fraser University graduate student project that melds music, meditation and modern technology has landed a rare spot as an exhibit at TEDActive 2012 in Palm Springs, California this month.

Other Sciences / Other

created 15 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Do we no longer care about the collective good?

The Transformation of Solidarity, a book co-edited by University of Queensland sociologist Dr Mara Yerkes, tackles the subject of globalisation of national economies and societies where we put a high value ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Feb 06, 2012 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (8) | comments 39


Anonymous knocks CIA website offline (Update)

The website of the Central Intelligence Agency was inaccessible on Friday after the hacker group Anonymous claimed to have knocked it offline.

New error-correcting codes guarantee the fastest possible rate of data transmission

Error-correcting codes are one of the triumphs of the digital age. They’re a way of encoding information so that it can be transmitted across a communication channel — such as an optical fiber o ...

Google users warned of threat to smartphone wallets

Users of Google smartphone wallets were being warned on Friday that there is a way to crack pass codes intended to thwart thieves from going on illicit shopping sprees.

Humans may have helped the decline of African rainforests 3000 years ago

(PhysOrg.com) -- Large areas of rainforests in Central Africa mysteriously disappeared over three thousand years ago, to be replaced by savannas. The prevailing theory has been that the cause was a change ...

New power source discovered

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and RMIT University have made a breakthrough in energy storage and power generation.

The power of estrogen -- male snakes attract other males

A new study has shown that boosting the estrogen levels of male garter snakes causes them to secrete the same pheromones that females use to attract suitors, and turned the males into just about the sexiest ...