One of the earliest of modern man's anestors, Australopithecus Afarensis lived between 4 million and 3.2 million years ago in eastern Africa. The teeth and jaws of two dozen hominads where uncovered at Laetoli in Tanzania along with a now famous set of footprints where two early men once walked along the shore of an ancient lake around 3.6 million years ago. More individuals were also found at Hadar in Ethiopia and another at Lake Turkana in Kenya.

Among those discovered at Hadar was Lucy, a nearly complete (40%) skeleton of an Australopithecus Afarensis. Weighing about 60 pounds and standing about 3 and 1/2 feet high, Lucy lived about 2.9 million years ago when the eastern region of Africa was semiarid savanna with rainy and dry seasons. Lucy was discovered in 1974 by Tim White and Donald Johanson.

Lucy and other skeletons found helped scientists to draw a clearer picture of what these early humans looked like. They were short, the tallest male probably reaching less than five feet, with extremely thick bones, and elongated back and short legs. The hands and feet were probably more similiar to apes than modern man, but the big toe appears to lack the grasping ability common to apes. The orientation of the pelvis allowed A. Afarensis to walk upright, though the length and grasp of their arms allowed them to continue to move through the trees.

Information provided by: http://www.anthro.mankato.msus.edu