Fatal fall from tall tree killed Lucy
Analyses of bone fragments reveal numerous bone fractures in the hominid Lucy that may have been caused by a fall.
Some 3.2 million years after her death, the early human ancestor, Lucy, has been subjected to a high-tech post-mortem examination, by which her bones have been CT scanned. After scrutinising the images of the broken bones, anthropology professor John Kappelman from the University of Texas is sure that Lucy died of the injuries she incurred falling from a considerable height in what is now Ethiopia. Based on the injuries and their locations on Lucy's body and after having consulted orthopaedic surgeons, John Kappelman has tried to reconstruct the details of Lucy’s last hours and seconds. She had climbed a tall tree, possibly to sleep, but disastrously, she lost her grip, fell, and hit the ground with her legs first and was killed.
The theory of a fall being the cause of Lucy's death is not supported by all scientists – such as Donald Johanson of the US, who discovered Lucy. According to him, it is impossible to say what killed the hominid.