The 3.3 million year old girl who climbed trees



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  A 3.3 million year old girl climbs trees

Young hominids may have spent more time on trees than adults to avoid predators. Photograph: Reuters

CITY OF MEXICO

The Human Evolution u Hominization is the process of biological evolution of the human species since his ancestors until nowadays.

More than three million years ago, Australopithecus afarensis was already standing, a milestone that made this ancient human predecessor a key link in the history of our evolution .

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The fossil of a hominid girl dead 3 years ago, 3 million years northwestern Ethiopia suggests that our ancestors also climbed the trees.

The analysis published in Science Adcances this Wednesday focuses on the foot of the little girl known as Selam or "daughter of Dikika" who according to experts, is the best-preserved skeleton of this species ever found.

A group of American researchers noted that the big toe of Selam is more curved than in the remains of adults of this species previously found near the place.

This means that the girl had a greater freedom of lateral movement of the thumbs of the foot a very useful feature at the time of fixation.

By considering the curvature of the toes and the particular structure of the arms in the adult specimens, the researchers concluded that the & # 39; A. afarensis walked on both feet during the day but climbed trees at sunset to sleep in the shelter of predators .

Young hominids may have spent more time in the trees than "

Other studies could provide new answers on the habits of" A. afarensis & # 39 ;. For example, the scanning of the bones of Selam will show how his feet have distributed the weight of the girl But the scarcity of fossils of this kind assumes that some questions remain unanswered because to conduct a meticulous analysis of the development of this hominid it would be necessary to study specimens of different ages: two four years, six years and more.

We are talking about a fossil record that we may never find, it would be a huge surprise to find something like this in my life, "he said. 59013] Jeremy DeSilva Paleontologist at the University of Dartmouth, quoted by "National Geographic & # 39;

*** MJPR ***

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