By digitally modeling muscles and tendons for the skeleton of Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis), researchers determined that our hominin ancestors could run well but topped out around 11 mph.

This, the researchers suggest, indicates that the Achilles adaptation along with muscle fiber evolution likely allowed early humans to run farther as they evolved.

What ‘Lucy,’ One of the World’s Most Important Fossils, Has Taught Scientists in the 50 Years Since Her Discovery The famous early human is still providing lessons to anthropologists about ...

On the anniversary of Lucy’s discovery, paleoanthropologists reflect on what she means to science, and what she taught us about ourselves.

Scientists put a face to a name in an epic way after digitally recreating the visage of Lucy, humanity's most famous ancestor.

Lucy’s Legacy A collection of 3-million-year-old bones unearthed 50 years ago in Ethiopia changed our understanding of human origins.

Todd S. Purdum's biography explores the impact on American culture by the Cuban-born entertainer who (as husband and business partner of Lucille Ball) changed the rules of TV.

Our early human ancestor was capable of running, if slowly, a new study finds. By Franz Lidz More than three million years after her death, the early human ancestor known as Lucy is still ...

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with paleoanthropologist, Donald Johanson, about the 50th anniversary of his biggest discovery, Lucy, an early human ancestor.

Since Lucy is a shared ancestor for chimpanzees as well, we also morphed Australopith and modern human and chimpanzee skeletal material, using an analytical technique called geometric morphometrics.

CNN: What was Lucy’s significance at the time that she was discovered? Johanson: She was the oldest, most complete hominin known at that time. This was terra incognita in the early ‘70s.