Abstract
Since the famous ape skeleton dubbed Lucy was discovered in 1974, researchers have debated how much time she spent in trees. It's an important question since evolutionary paleontologists believe Lucy is an ancestor of modern humans. They believe the shape of her big toe, in particular, is strong evidence that she walked upright on two feet. And the more time Lucy spent walking, rather than climbing trees, the closer seems her connection to humanity. But recent findings seem to indicate that the many tree-climbing aspects of Lucy's anatomy, such as her long arms, curved fingers, and upward-angled shoulder blades, are not simply leftovers from a chimp-like evolutionary past.