Did fall from tree kill famous human ancestor Lucy?

Scientists have long wondered how Lucy, the famous human ancestor, died. Now a new analysis of her fossil bones suggests a possible answer — the upright-walking Lucy probably died after falling from a tree. Some scientists including Lucy’s discoverer disagree. They contend the cracks in Lucy’s bones came after her death. The disagreement highlights the difficulty of pinpointing a cause of death from fossilized remains. Lucy was a member of an early human species that lived in Africa between about 4 million and 3 million years ago. Her partial skeleton was recovered in 1974.