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An Ancient Toddler

For being the world's oldest child, this girl is in great shape! Scientists have discovered the nearly complete skeleton of a 3-year-old girl who lived some 3.3 million years ago. It was found in 2000 in the Dikika region of Ethiopia, a country in East Africa. The skeleton was nicknamed Selam, which means "peace" in several Ethiopian languages.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime find," says Fred Spoor, who worked on a report about the find, published on September 21 in the scientific journal Nature. Selam is the oldest known skeleton of a human ancestor who died so young. It is also one of the best preserved. It took scientists five years to remove the fragile bones from the sandstone in which they were found. The painstaking work paid off. Much of the skeleton survived, including the skull, lower jaw, ribs and a foot.

Selam belongs to the species Australopithecus afarensi, an early human ancestor that had many ape-like features. Selam is sure to revive the great scientific debate about Australopithecus afarensi. Some believe that they walked upright. Others believe they walked on all fours and climbed through trees with ease. Experts will continue to study Selam for clues about evolution.

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