AL 200-1

Species: Australopithecus afarensis
Age: 3.0-3.2 million years
Date of Discovery: 1975
Location: Hadar, Ethiopia
Discovered by: D. Johanson and M. Taieb
AL 200-1: frontal view
AL 200-1: side view
AL 200-1: dentition

The Afar Depression of Ethiopia has provided the majority of fossils of the early human species Australopithecus afarensis. These fossils include the famous "Lucy" skeleton, the most complete A. afarensis known. Locality 200 in the Afar provided the undistorted palate to the right, with a complete dentition.

This palate shows that the dentition of early humans was essentially ape-like. It had broad "spatulate" incisors -- wide front teeth that are spatula-like in appearance, visible in the frontal view at the top -- and the cheek teeth were arranged in sub-parallel rows, giving the dental arcade a distinct "U-shape" (visible in the inferior view, bottom). Notice also the presence of a diastema, or gap, between the canine teeth and the outside incisors, again similar to apes and not humans. In the lateral view (middle photo), we can see the protruding premaxilla, the bone between the teeth and the nose. The protruding, or prognathic, lower portion of the face, which sticks out beyond the nose and eyes, is a similarity to the apes.


Return to Australopithecus afarensis
Return to the Human Family Tree Family tree logo


Navigation Bar for the Human Origins Web Site
Home | Human Origins Program | Human Ancestors | What's Hot! | Ask a Researcher | FAQ's