New Georgian Fossils May Link 'Lucy' and Homo Erectus

Archaeologists have unearthed four fossilized skeletons of a human ancestor that shares characteristics with the humanesque Homo erectus and the earlier, smaller Australopithicus afarensis, of which the famous 'Lucy' skeleton is a member. The fossils in the republic of Georgia contradict the previously held idea that hominids developed all key human attributes before emigrating from Africa, the NY Times reports.

Indeed, the brain of the Georgian specimen is no bigger than a chimpanzee's. Their small body and cranial sizes, along with the shape of their upper limbs resemble those of habilis, the earliest Homo—and therefore closest to Lucy's genus. However the lower limbs and feet resemble the gaunt erectus, and probably enabled their species' travel to Georgia. (More fossil stories.)