Lucy, whose skeleton  was discovered in Ethiopia in 1974, died shortly after she fell out of a tree, according to a new study published Monday in the British journalNature. For their research, Kappelman and Dr. Richard Ketcham used a CT scanner to create more than 35,000 "slices" of Lucy's skeleton. Scientists named her Lucy from the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", which was played at the camp the night of her discovery. The following analysis of the slices showed sharp, clean breaks seen at the end of Lucy's right humerus  are similar to bone breaks seen in victims of falls. The researchers concluded that these and other breaks in her skeleton show that Lucy, who is believed to have stood about 3 feet 6 inches and weighed about 60 pounds, fell feet first and used her arms to support herself -- but that the injury was too severe to have been survivable. The researchers estimate that Lucy was going about 35 miles an hour when she hit the ground after falling from a height of roughly 40 feet, according to the statement. That sounds _ . But other scientists are doubtful. "There are countless explanations for bone breaks," Dr, Donald C, Johanson, director of the Institute of Human Origins and one of the scientists who discovered Lucy, said, "The suggestion that she fell out of a tree is largely a just-so story and therefore unprovable." Johanson said it was more likely that Lucy's breaks occurred long after she died, saying that "elephant bones appear to have the same kind of breaks, It's unlikely they fell out of a tree. " But the new research focused on "a small number of breaks" that are consistent with "high-energy bone-to-bone influences" and which differ from the sorts of breaks commonly seen in other collected bones. Kappelman responded in an email, "These appear to have occurred at or near the time of death." What can we know about Lucy from Kappelman and Dr. Richard Ketcham's research?
She got her name from a song. She had more than 35,000 slices. She couldn't use her arms properly. She made an effort to save herself.