Lucy, discovered in the Awash Valley of…

Lucy, discovered in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar region, is considered the world's second oldest, but most complete and best preserved, adult Australopithecine fossil.

Lucy's taxonomic name, Australopithecus afarensis, means 'southern ape of Afar', and refers to the Ethiopian region where the discovery was made.

Lucy is estimated to have lived three point two million years ago.

There have been many other notable fossil findings in the country, including another early hominin, Ardipithicus ramidus (Ardi).

East Africa, and more specifically the general area of Ethiopia, is widely considered the site of the emergence of early Homo sapiens in the Middle Paleolithic.