Ardi's Feet Reframe the Dawn of Human Walking
A 4.4‑million‑year‑old female fossil named Ardi (Ardipithecus ramidus) shows a mosaic of ape‑like and human‑like traits, including a grasping big toe and an ankle bone adapted for weight transfer, suggesting upright walking evolved from an African ape‑like ancestor and predating Lucy by about a million years.