As 2012 nears its end, one thing stands out as the major theme
in human evolution research this year: Our hominid ancestors
were more diverse than scientists had ever imagined. Over the
past 12 months, researchers have found clues indicating that
throughout most of hominids’ seven-million-year history,
numerous species with a range of adaptations lived at any given
time. Here are my top picks for the most important discoveries
this year. 1. Fossil foot reveals Lucy wasn’t alone: Lucy’s
species, Australopithecus afarensis, lived roughly 3.0 million
to 3.9 million years ago. So when researchers unearthed eight
3.4-million-year-old hominid foot bones in Ethiopia, they
expected the fossils to belong to Lucy’s kind. The bones do
indicate the creature walked upright on two legs, but the foot
had an opposable big toe useful for grasping and climbing.
That’s not something you see in A. afarensis feet. The
researchers who analyzed the foot say it does resemble that of
the 4.4-million-year-old Ardipithecus ramidus, sug