Selam (DIK-1/1) is the fossilized skull and other skeletal remains of a three-year-old ''
Australopithecus afarensis
''Australopithecus afarensis'' is an extinct species of australopithecine which lived from about 3.9–2.9 million years ago (mya) in the Pliocene of East Africa. The first fossils were discovered in the 1930s, but major fossil finds would not ...
'' female
hominin
The Hominini form a taxonomic tribe of the subfamily Homininae ("hominines"). Hominini includes the extant genera ''Homo'' (humans) and '' Pan'' (chimpanzees and bonobos) and in standard usage excludes the genus ''Gorilla'' (gorillas).
The t ...
, whose bones were first found in
Dikika
The Dikika is an area of the Afar Region of Ethiopia where the hominin fossil named Selam was found (a specimen of the ''Australopithecus afarensis'' species). Dikika is located in Mille woreda.Based on the map of the findsite printed in Alemseged ...
,
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
in 2000 and recovered over the following years. Although she has often been nicknamed Lucy's baby, the specimen has been dated at 3.3 million years ago, approximately 120,000 years older than "
Lucy
Lucy is an English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings are Luci, Luce, Luci ...
" (dated to about 3.18 mya).
Discovery
The fossils were discovered by
Zeresenay Alemseged
Zeresenay "Zeray" Alemseged (born 4 June 1969) is an Ethiopian paleoanthropologist who was the Chair of the Anthropology Department at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, United States. He recently joined the faculty of the Un ...
, and are remarkable for both their age and condition. On 20 September 2006 the journal ''Nature'' presented the findings of a dig in Dikika, Ethiopia, a few miles south of
Hadar, the well-known site where the fossil hominin known as Lucy was found. The recovered skeleton comprises almost the entire skull and torso and many parts of the limbs. The features of the skeleton suggest adaptation to walking upright (
bipedalism
Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning 'two feet' (from Latin ''bis'' 'double' a ...
) as well as tree-climbing, features that correspond well with the skeletal features of Lucy and other specimens of ''
Australopithecus afarensis
''Australopithecus afarensis'' is an extinct species of australopithecine which lived from about 3.9–2.9 million years ago (mya) in the Pliocene of East Africa. The first fossils were discovered in the 1930s, but major fossil finds would not ...
'' from Ethiopia and Tanzania. CT-scans of the skull show small canine teeth forming, indicating the specimen is female.
"Lucy's Baby" has officially been named "
Selam" (meaning "peace"). The name was published at the announcement of the discovery at the National Museum in Addis Ababa. As part of Ethiopia's Millennium celebration a commemorative gold coin was minted and given to visiting government officials during the celebration year.
Following is an abstract of the original article describing the baby "Selam", which was authored by Zeresenay Alemseged, Fred Spoor, William H. Kimbel, René Bobe, Denis Geraads, Denné Reed and Jonathan G. Wynn.
A life like image of Selam was published on the front page of the November 2006 issue of ''
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
''.
A 2018 examination by DeSilva et al. in ''Science Advances'' concluded the hallux of the foot was evidence of hallucal grasping and tree climbing, with an ape-like low and perhaps flat arch of the foot.
Evolution
Many paleoanthropologists propose that the ''Homo'' line derives from ''
A. africanus''; in this view it might be better to place Selam in the ''A. africanus'' line, since it has more human traits than most ''A. afarensis'' (see
Homininae
Homininae (), also called "African hominids" or "African apes", is a subfamily of Hominidae. It includes two tribes, with their extant as well as extinct species: 1) the tribe Hominini (with the genus ''Homo'' including modern humans and numerou ...
).
Implications
Examination of the shoulder blade and arms
of this specimen has lent support to the idea that ''
Australopithecus afarensis
''Australopithecus afarensis'' is an extinct species of australopithecine which lived from about 3.9–2.9 million years ago (mya) in the Pliocene of East Africa. The first fossils were discovered in the 1930s, but major fossil finds would not ...
'' climbed extensively.
See also
*
List of human evolution fossils
The following tables give an overview of notable finds of Hominini, hominin fossils and Skeleton, remains relating to human evolution, beginning with the formation of the tribe Hominini (the divergence of the Chimpanzee–human last common ancest ...
*
Taung Child
The Taung Child (or Taung Baby) is the fossilised skull of a young ''Australopithecus africanus''. It was discovered in 1924 by quarrymen working for the Northern Lime Company in Taung, South Africa. Raymond Dart described it as a new species ...
''(Australopithecus africanus)''
References
{{Reflist
External links
BBC News: "Lucy's Baby" Found in EthiopiaCosmos Magazine: 'Lucy's baby' rattles human evolution Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins program
Australopithecus fossils
Neogene fossil record
it:Australopithecus afarensis#Selam