Dr. Donald C. Johanson is one of the world's leading and best
known paleoanthropologist. He received his Masters Degree and Ph.D. in 1970 and
1974 from the University of Chicago,
where he studied human paleontology. He developed the distinguished Laboratory
of Physical Anthropology in Cleveland Museum of
National History.
He has dedicated 25 years to exploring, discovering and studying some of the most significant fossil finds ever made in the search of human origins. His field research has taken him to Tanzania, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Egypt and Jordan.
The early hominid species known as Australopithecus afarensis includes fossils from two sites, Laetoli in northern Tanzania and Hadar in the Afar region of Ethiopia. Johanson's most acclaimed find occurred in 1974 at Hadar with the discovery of a 1.8 million-year-old partial skeleton of Homo habilis and Lucy, a 3.5 million-year-old nearly complete fossil of a female Australopithecus afarensis. She was the best find during an outstanding season where Johanson's crew uncovered parts of 13 individuals of what National Geographic dubbed, after the official announcement, 'The First Family of Fossils." Lucy quickly became a household name.
In February 1994, Johanson hosted and narrated an episode of Nova, a television documentary on PBS. The subject was the "Search for Human Origins" which used paleoanthropology, recreating of the lifestyles of the ancient people with natural history footage to present his views of human evolution.
Dr. Johanson is an Honorary Board Member of the Explorer Club, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and many other professional organizations. Johanson is a recipient of several international prizes and awards including two honorary doctorates. His ideas on the origins of humankind were first presented at a Nobel Symposium on Human Origins in 1978 in Sweden.
Dr. Johanson is a prolific author, having published nearly 100 scientific papers and books including:
Lucy: the Beginning of Human Kind
Blueprints: Solving the Mystery of Evolution
Lucy's Child: the Discovery of a Human Ancestor
Journey from the Dawn
Added http://www.archaeologyinfo.com/australopithecusafarensis.htm (September 2006)
Written by: Alladitta Shabbir