Inside a specially constructed safe at the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa sit the fragile remains of the world’s most celebrated human ancestor. She was once a hardy survivor in an unforgiving environment, but now her partial skeleton receives round-the-clock protection in a temperature-controlled setting.
In her prime, nearly 3.2 million years ago, this ancient female roamed East Africa’s landscape. Standing a bit over 1 meter tall and weighing no more than about 30 kilograms — slightly taller and lighter than an average adult female bonobo chimp — she was not physically imposing.
But her evolutionary stature and cross-cultural appeal are huge. Today, half a century after
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