History
Recent
discoveries include the 4.4 million year old ArdipithecusKadaba and Selam, an
almost complete skeleton of a three year old female child dating to 3.3 million
years ago. The most famous of the discoveries in the Afar region, of
course, is that of Lucy (‘Dinkenesh' – ‘wonderful'), the most complete skeleton
of an early hominid yet found and dating back some 3.2 million years. A replica
of her skeleton is on display in the National Museum of Ethiopia. Lucy
(Australopithecus Afarensis) walked on two legs and stood about 3.5 feet tall.
Australopithecus subsequently evolved towards the genus Homo, with the
appearance of Homo Habilis (2.4 - 1.8 million years) and Homo Erectus (1.4 – 1
million years), and then Homo Sapiens, probably about 200,000 years ago. There
are several notable fossil sites in Ethiopia including the lower Omo Valley and
the Awash Valley, both registered as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the latter
including the Hadar area, Aramis and MelkoKunture, the scenes of numerous
paleontological discoveries.