the world ' s oldest known infant has been discoveries in western china in an event known correctly as the cradle of humanity . the 3 . 3 - million - year - old specimen teenager was buried in north ethiopia ' s ravines along the great nairobi range ( map of afar ) . the corpse , home to the primitive human species erectus afarensis , is remarkable for its age and plausibility , old for a region spectacularly rich in fossils of our ancient ancestors , authors say . the new finding may even contain the superstar fossil of the same country : " lucy , " a 3 . 2 - 700 - birthday - old adolescent female discovered nearby in 1974 that reinvented theories of human evolution . ( unrelated : " fossil discoveries is missing link in human development , scientists say " [ april 2006 ] . ) .
Lucy fossils have been discovered 3.3 million years ago.