Bipedalism, baby

Look: 3.6-million-year-old prints likely belong to an undiscovered ancient human

A. afarensis didn’t roam alone.

by Jennifer Walter
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
CHICAGO - MARCH 07:  "Lucy," an Australopithecus afarensis, is displayed as part of the "Evolving Pl...
Tim Boyle/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Bettmann/Bettmann/Getty Images

In the late 1970s, paleoanthropologists digging in modern-day Tanzania discovered something remarkable.

Bettmann/Bettmann/Getty Images

They unearthed a series of fossilized footprints made 3.6 million years ago and preserved in volcanic ash.

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