World's oldest baby found in Ethiopia

September 19, 2006

The remains are thought to be the best fossil of its species, Australopithecus afarensis, ever found. The shape of the baby's shoulder blades resembles a young gorilla's, suggesting she could climb trees. But the angle of the femur from knee to hip is close to that of a modern human, implying she walked efficiently on two legs. From the waist down, the Dikika baby looked like us. One of her humanlike knees was complete with a kneecap no bigger than a dried pea. But her upper body, like Lucy's, had many apelike features. Her brain was small, her nose flat like a chimpanzee's, and her face long and projecting. Her finger bones were curved and almost as long as a chimp's. Her two complete shoulder blades are the first ever found from an australopith individual.