Donald Johanson
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Donald Carl Johanson (born June 28, 1943 in Chicago) is an American paleoanthropologist. Along with Maurice Taieb, Yves Coppens and Tim White, he is well known for the discovery of the skeleton of a 3.18 million year old female hominid australopithecine, in the Afar Triangle of Ethiopia. The 40% complete skeleton was discovered November 30, 1974 while on an anthropological mission funded in part by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, of which he was the curator. A. afarensis has many chimp like, as well as, human features. The skeleton was dubbed "Lucy". The name was coined because the Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was playing over and over the night she was discovered. Lucy was remarkably complete, with a large number of bones preserved. Lucy stands only three and one half feet tall.
Johanson earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1966. He earned his master's degree in 1970 and his PhD in 1974 from the University of Chicago.
Dr. Johanson established the Institute of Human Origins, in Berkeley, California in 1981. Johanson and the Institute moved to Arizona State University in 1998.
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[edit] Bibliography
- Johanson, Donald and Maitland Edey (1981) Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-671-25036-1
- Johanson, Donald and James Shreeve (1989) Lucy's Child: The Discovery of a Human Ancestor. London: Viking. ISBN 0-670-83366-5
- Johanson, Donald and Blake Edgar (1996, Revised 2006) From Lucy to Language. New York: Siemens & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-81023-9
- Johanson, Donald and Giancarlo Ligabue (2000) Ecce Homo: Writings in Honour of Third-Millennium Man. Art Books Intl Ltd. ISBN 88-435-7170-2
[edit] See also
- Australopithecus afarensis
- List of fossil sites (with link directory)
- List of hominina (hominid) fossils (with images)
- Multi-regional origin
- Single-origin hypothesis
[edit] Quotes
- "I've always thought that risk-taking is an important part of what it means to be human."
