Australopithecus afarensis

Australopithecus afarensis is a very old kind of human-like creature that lived a very, very long time ago. They were like our great, great, great, great, great grandparents. They were alive more than 3 million years ago! They lived in Africa, which is a very hot and sunny place. They were a little bit like monkeys because they had long arms and hands that were good for climbing trees. But they were also like humans because they walked on two legs like we do! Their feet were different from ours, though. They had longer toes that helped them grasp things like tree branches. They were not very tall, only about 3 to 4 feet tall, so they were smaller than most of the people today. They ate mostly plants like fruits and nuts but sometimes ate meat too. We can learn about them by studying fossils, which are like bones that are very, very, very old. Scientists have found lots of fossils of Australopithecus afarensis, and from these bones, they have learned a lot about how these creatures lived a long time ago.