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Jamie Smith
Adam Hoffman
ENG 101
9 September 2016
Fact vs. Fiction: Lucy the Hominid’s Death from a Tree-Fall
Lucy the Hominid was discovered in 1974 at Hadar in Ethiopia by an ASU professor,
Donald Johanson. A Hominid is a classification of the ape family that scientists believed humans
descended from; Lucy’s particular species is the Australopithecus; they date back to having lived
nearly 3.2 million years ago. Standing at three feet tall, Lucy was a mature, fully grown, adult.
She’s notorious for being one of the first ancestors to walk upright but still emulate most
physical features of an ape (Feltman 4). The reason she’s being brought up again 42 years later is
because of research done at the University of Texas suggesting the cause of her death. John
Kappelman and his colleagues released this information on August 29, 2016 coming to the
conclusion that Lucy fell out of a tree, causing her to break multiple bones and die (Kappelman
9). The speculation of Lucy’s death proves to be remarkably controversial, causing experts
nationwide to involve themselves in the mystery as to how and why she may have died.
When Lucy was first discovered, she had no initial cause of death that Johanson and his
team of investigators could pinpoint. Her death remained unknown until a 10-day study at the
University of Texas in Austin was completed in April of 2016 (Seckel 4). The online article was
finally published in August 2016 after first being approved by other medical examiners.
Kappelman and his colleagues believed that Lucy’s death was the result of falling out of a tree.
They went through an extensive amount of research in order to come to this conclusion. Whereas
the initial research concluded Lucy’s injuries to be postmortem, happening after death,
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Kappelman believed the injuries to be perimortem, occurring at or around the time of death.
From there, the researchers decided to look in to all of her injuries, which were mostly fractures
consistent with ones seen in traumatic events. The most outstanding one of the damages is the
shoulder fracture believed to have resulted directly from her fall. Kappelman and his team refer
to this as the “Deceleration Event.” They took the height they believe Lucy nested at, 60km high,
and calculated the wounds that would occur keeping in mind her small stature. In the
“Deceleration Event” Lucy would have first landed on her ankle causing a “Pilon fracture, then a
hyperextended knee, broken ribs, and a fractured shoulder,” (Kappelman 11) causing her to die
instantaneously. This evidence was also supported by orthopedic surgeons that reviewed the
research and unquestionably named the fractures to be greenstick and compression fractures.
“Usually a sign of a traumatic impact, not the wear and tear of life as a fossil, and the latter only
occurs on fresh, living bone” (Feltman 15). This presents the reasoning behind why Kappelman
and his colleagues were so certain in their investigation.
Despite the certainty perceived in Kappelman’s research, scientists from colleges
nationwide are refuting the data he published. Arizona State University’s director of the Institute
of Human Origins, William Kimbel, published a news article on August 29 2016 stating, “it’s not
the conclusion they object to but the process used to reach it” (Seckel 10). The tree-fall theory
lacks the exploration of other possible scenarios as to how Lucy could’ve died. Even Donald
Johanson, the founder of the fossil, had something to say about this research. “It suggests to me
that this was the result of geological forces rather than having fallen out of a tree” (Seckel 14).
To Johanson and other scientists across the nation the fractures appear to be the impact from
millions of years of sedimentation placed over the fossil. Another area where Kappelman and
his team were misled was the idea that Lucy nested in the trees. Much like humans, she had the
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ability to climb trees, but she did not permanently reside in them. Unlike previous ancestors,
Lucy walked upright on two feet leading most scientists to infer that she mainly foraged and
nested on the ground. This inference, along with the belief that her fractures were postmortem is
the reason behind why Kappelman’s hypothesis is viewed as incorrect by other scientists.
Although the conclusion reached by Kappelman and his colleagues was seen as a major
breakthrough in the science community, it does not yield enough evidence to provide a definitive
answer as to how Lucy died. As Kimbel and Johanson pointed out, the sedimentation laid over
top of a decaying body could’ve been the cause of the injuries she received, not the act of falling
out of a tree (Kimbel 19). While Kappelman’s study was refuted by most scientists, it did probe
others to become interested as to how she may have died. Ultimately, Lucy’s fossil is far too
aged to actually presume the reason for her death. Due to the inconclusiveness regarding Lucy’s
death, it will forever remain a mystery.
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Works Cited
Feltman, Rachel. “Lucy, our hominid cousin, may have died in a tragic fall from a tree.” The
Washington Post. 30 Aug. 2016, Washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science.
Accessed 31 Aug. 2016.
Kappelman, John. “Perimortem fractures in Lucy suggest mortality from fall out of tall tree.”
Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science. 29 Aug. 2016,
nature.com/nature/journal. Accessed 31 Aug. 2016.
Kimbel, William. “Lucy’s Story.” Arizona State University Institute of Human Origins. Nd.
Iho.asu.edu. Accessed 31 Aug. 2016.
“Lucy: Prehistoric Autopsy.” Films on Demand, uploaded by BBC, 2012,
http://fod.infobase.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/.
Netburn, Deborah. “3.2 Million Years After Her Death, Autopsy Reveals Lucy Died After
Falling from a Tree.” Los Angeles Times. 29 Aug. 2016, latimes/science/sciencenow.
Accessed 31 Aug. 2016.
Seckel, Scott. “ASU experts dispute study that says Lucy fell from tree.” ASU Now. 29 Aug.
2016, asunow.asu.edu. Accessed 29 Aug. 2016.
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