Donald Johanson

Donald Johanson
Born	28 June 1943(1943-06-28) Chicago, Illinois, USA
Nationality	United States
Fields	Paleoanthropology
Institutions	Arizona State University
Alma mater	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University of Chicago
Known for	The discovery of a new hominid, Australopithecus afarensis, "Lucy"

Donald Carl Johanson (born June 28, 1943) is an American paleoanthropologist. Along with Maurice Taieb, and Yves Coppens he is known for the discovery of the skeleton of the female hominid australopithecine known as "Lucy", in the Afar Triangle region of Hadar, Ethiopia.

Biography

Early years

Johanson was born in Chicago, Illinois, and earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1966. He earned his master's degree in 1970 and his PhD in 1974 from the University of Chicago. At the time of the discovery of Lucy, he was an assistant and associate professor of anthropology at Case Western Reserve University. Johanson also holds an honorary doctorate from Case Western Reserve University.^[1] In 1981, he established the Institute of Human Origins in Berkeley, California which he later moved to Arizona State University in 1998. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Westfield State College in 2008.

"Lucy"

Donald Johanson with Lucy

Lucy was discovered in Hadar, Ethiopia on November 24, 1974, when Johanson, coaxed away from his paperwork by graduate student Tom Gray for a spur-of-the-moment survey, caught the glint of a white fossilized bone out of the corner of his eye, and recognized it as hominid. Forty percent of the skeleton was eventually recovered, and later described as the first known member of Australopithecus afarensis. Dr. Johanson's girlfriend suggested she be named "Lucy" after the Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" which was played repeatedly during the night of the discovery. A biped, Lucy stood about three and a half feet tall, and added support to Raymond Dart's theory that australopithecines walked upright. Johanson and his team were also able to deduce from Lucy's ribs that she was vegetarian, and from her curved finger bones that she was probably at home in trees. Lucy herself was not at once recognized as a disparate species, but was considered an older member of Australopithecus africanus, and only the later discovery of skulls of A. afarensis convinced the general palaeontological world that Lucy represents a species called afarensis.^[2]

"First Family"

AL 333, commonly referred to as the "First Family," is a collection of prehistoric hominid teeth and bones that were also discovered in Hadar, Ethiopia, by Johanson's team in 1975. Generally thought to be members of the species Australopithecus afarensis, they are estimated to be about 3.2 million years old and consist of the remains of at least thirteen individuals.

Bibliography

• Johanson, Donald; Maitland Edey (1981). Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0671250361. 
• Johanson, Donald; James Shreeve (1989). Lucy's Child: The Discovery of a Human Ancestor. London: Viking. ISBN 0670833665. 
• Johanson, Donald; Blake Edgar (1996). From Lucy to Language. New York: Siemens & Schuster. ISBN 0684810239. 
• Johanson, Donald; Giancarlo Ligabue (1999). Ecce Homo: Writings in Honour of Third Millennium Man. Milan: Electa. ISBN 8843571702. 
• Johanson, Donald; Kate Wong (2009). Lucy's Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0307396398. 

See also

• Australopithecus afarensis
• List of fossil sites (with link directory)
• List of hominina (hominid) fossils (with images)
• Multi-regional origin
• Single-origin hypothesis

Notes

External links

• Bio: Dr. Donald C. Johanson
• Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University
• Lucy´s Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins: Video
• NPR. Science Friday. "Human Origins" - May 9, 1997 interview with Johanson.
• NPR. Science Friday. "Lucy's Legacy" - March 6, 2009 interview with Johanson.
• "Origins of Modern Humans: Multiregional or Out of Africa?" by Donald Johanson