AL 333 ( First Family ) is the discovery of numerous teeth and bone fragments of Australopithecus afar , made in 1975 by a group of paleontologists led by Donald Johanson in Hadar ( Ethiopia ). The collection contains the remains of at least 13 individuals who died and were buried at the same time about 3.2 million years ago. Together with the find “Lucy” made in the same area a year earlier, the “first family” is one of the most outstanding finds in the history of paleoanthropology .
Content
- 1 History
- 2 Research Results
- 2.1 Characteristics of finds
- 2.2 Dating
- 2.3 cause of death
- 2.4 Species
- 2.5 Sexual dimorphism
- 3 “The first family” in popular culture
- 4 Interesting Facts
- 5 notes
- 6 References
History
In the late 1960s, the French paleoanthropologist Maurice Tayeb began the paleontological development of the little explored northern region of Ethiopia, known as the Afar Triangle or the Afar Depression, which is the lowest territory of the country and one of the lowest territories in Africa. In 1972, Tayeb invited the French paleontologist Yves Coppens , the American geologist Jon Kalb and the American anthropologist Donald Johanson to explore the area from the point of view of its paleontological perspective. This group, called the International Afar Research Expedition (IARE), began studying the Khadar sedimentary formation located in the area (named for the village of Khadar ) [1] .
Historically, the Afar triangle has been little studied due to its remoteness, lack of roads and the difficult political situation in the region. The Khadar Formation is a 200-meter layer of geological deposits that comes to the surface, covering a significant period of time and is rich in bone remains of various animals. In addition, feldspars and volcanic glasses were discovered here, which made it possible to establish the exact age of nearby geological layers [2] .
From 1973 to 1977, the expedition discovered 250 fossils belonging to ancient hominids [1] . The most famous Khadar find was Lucy , the most complete of Australopithecus skeletons ever found. In 1975, a sensational find was made in another place of the same formation, called AL 333. These were 216 fragments of at least 13 individuals, which, apparently, lived in a group and died simultaneously. The find was called the “First Family” [3] .
Research Results
Characteristics of finds
Of 216 samples, 197 were found on the surface and 19 in the soil to a depth of 80 cm. Subsequently, 23 more fragments of the postcranial skeleton and 3 samples of jaws and teeth were found. Found 242 fragments of good preservation belonged to at least 17 individuals (9 adults, 3 adolescents and 5 cubs) [3] .
In 2000, metatarsal bones with signs of longitudinal and transverse arches of the foot were found on the same site, indicating a straightened biped gait of Australopithecus afar [4] .
Dating
The discovery of remains in the same geological layer in close proximity to each other testified to the simultaneous burial. Due to the fact that the remains were located between two layers of volcanic tuffs , precisely dated by the potassium-argon method , it was found that the age of the remains lies in the range of 3.18–3.21 million years [5] .
Cause of death
The unique case when the remains of a large number of individuals were found in one place and in the same sedimentary layer gave rise to a lot of speculations about the causes of death of the “first family”. The most popular was the hypothesis that a group of Australopithecus, located in a deep ravine, was taken by surprise by a powerful stream caused by a sudden onset of rain. Further, a thorough study of the location of the find allowed to reject this hypothesis [6] . The assumption of an attack by large cats was also called into question, since no characteristic injuries from teeth and claws of predators were found on the bones [6] [7] . In addition, the possibility of food poisoning was discussed, but Johanson believes this assumption is unlikely, since Australopithecus were vegetarians [7] .
Species
Doubts were expressed about the belonging of all the individuals found to the same species. Some researchers believe that the remains were in one place by accident, and the primates to which they belonged did not necessarily constitute a group [8] .
Measuring the size and proportions of the bones, in particular, the largest (humerus and femur) and comparing them with the corresponding bones of the “Lucy” led researchers to the conviction that all the bones of the “first family” belonged to the Australopithecus afar [8] .
Sexual Dimorphism
The bulk of the fossils found are teeth and jaw fragments, however, the presence of the humerus and femur made it possible to judge the differences between males and females. The first studies, contrary to expectations, showed that sexual dimorphism of Australopithecus afar is similar to human. Some paleontologists did not agree with this conclusion, believing that the differences in bone size AL 333 caused by the difference in age. Comparison of AL 333 bones with bones found in other places where the remains of females were found allowed us to establish that Australopithecus is more likely to be similar to gorillas by sex dimorphism, the males of which are significantly larger and more massive than females [9] .
The First Family in Popular Culture
In one of the episodes of the science fiction series Jurassic Portal, Helen Cutter suspects that she poisoned the "first family" in order to destroy humanity.
Interesting Facts
Americans have traditionally called the president’s family the “first family”. In addition to a peculiar irony, this name emphasizes the uniqueness of the find and its great importance for the study of the origin of man.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Johanson, D. (Winter, 2004). Lucy, thirty years later: an expanded view of Australopithecus afarensis. Journal of Anthropological Research , 60 (4), 466-468.
- ↑ Johanson, D. (Winter, 2004). Lucy, thirty years later: an expanded view of Australopithecus afarensis. Journal of Anthropological Research , 60 (4), 467.
- ↑ 1 2 Johanson, D. (Winter, 2004). Lucy, thirty years later: an expanded view of Australopithecus afarensis. Journal of Anthropological Research , 60 (4), 471-472.
- ↑ Ward, Carol, William H. Kimbel , and Donald C. Johanson, Complete Fourth Metatarsal and Arches in the Foot of Australopithecus Afarensis , Science 331, no. 6018 (February 2011): 750-753.
- ↑ Johanson, D., Edgar, B., & Brill, D. (1996). From Lucy to language . New York: Simon and Schuster, 126.
- ↑ 1 2 Johanson, D. (Winter, 2004). Lucy, thirty years later: an expanded view of Australopithecus afarensis. Journal of Anthropological Research , 60 (4), 472.
- ↑ 1 2 Smillie, S. (2008, October 3). SA academic called on to solve fossil mystery. The Star , p. 6. [1]
- ↑ 1 2 Gordon, AD (2007). Strong postcranial size dimorphism in Australopithecus afarensis: Results from two new resampling methods for multivariate data sets with missing data. American Journal of Physical Anthropology , 311-328.
- ↑ Plavcan, JM (2005). Sexual dimorphism in Australopithecus afarensis revisited: How strong is the case for a human-like pattern of dimorphism? Journal of Human Evolution , 313-320.
Links
- William L. Jungers Lucy's limbs: skeletal allometry and locomotion in Australopithecus afarensis . Nature, Vol. 297, 24 June 1982, P. 676-677.
- Detailed description of the finds in Hadar