3D printing to better understand Australopithecus Lucy

We've all heard of Lucy, our beloved common ancestor who lived over 3 million years ago in Africa and was discovered in 1974 by a team of researchers. This landmark discovery enabled us to understand how the species moved at the time, thanks in particular to the analysis of the skeleton and bones found. But the big question remained: what caused Lucy's death? This unsolvable enigma may have been solved today, thanks in particular to 3D printing and 3D scanning technology.

Lucy's skeleton has been 3D scanned.

To find an explanation for this mystery, American researchers began by 3D scanning the available fragments of the remaining skeleton in 2008. By analyzing the fractures in the bones, they hypothesized that Lucy had died by falling from a tree. However, this hypothesis was later refuted several times by other specialists, who believed that the fractures predated the fall.

Lucy's 3D models are now 3D printable.

Today, the team of researchers behind a new study to explain Lucy's death has decided to recover the 3D files and make them available to all on the eLucy.org website. This means that paleontologists and hobbyists the world over can use these free 3D models to 3D print their own version of Lucy with their 3D printer. So, if you want to advance science, you can make your own fragments of Lucy's shoulder, knee, shoulder or arm for analysis :)!

After 3D-printing Lucy's skeleton, a new study published in Nature claims that the fracture patterns in the bone show that she died as a result of falling from a large tree. She would also have stretched out her arm in an attempt to break her fall. According to the same specialists, Lucy would have fallen from a height of over twelve meters, and thus died very quickly.

An anthropologist from University College London, Maria Martinon-Torres, confirmed the idea of compression fractures. "There's a whole world of virtual anthropology. They're able to study fossils, but without really being able to touch them because they're unique, rare, hard-to-find and very fragile fossils. With this, we can touch them, understand them, make them, and use them as in forensic medicine, to understand how a bone fractures. And then for education and teachers, it's very important. Anatomy is a visual thing, which needs 3D."

Source : Slate