Australopithecus afarensis
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Australopithecus afarensis, named after the Afar valley in Ethiopia, where it was first found, in is a form of early australopithecine. These early [[hominins}} were characterised as bipedal, with shorter legs and longer arms than modern humans. They had ape-sized [[brain}}s with a cranial capacity of 375-500 cubic centimeters. Males have been estimated to be nearly twice the size of females of the species, with males being perhaps 1.5 m tall while females were 1 m tall.
Environment
Some paleoanthroplogists suggest that the proportionately long arms and curved fingers indicate that this species was still spending a significant amount of time in the trees. However, this is contested by other researchers, seeing a profound commitment to bipedality in such features as a broad and short pelvis, a femur angle knee joint and arched foot. However, their walking was no yet as efficient as that of modern humans.
