the world ' s best known child has been discovered in east africa in an environment famous appropriately as the cradle of intelligence . the 3 . 3 - 1000 - year - early fossilized boy was uncovered in north india ' s gorge throughout the great rift valley ( emblem of ethiopia ) . the skeleton , belonging to the primitive woman species theropods afarensis , is remarkable for its longevity and completeness , also for a region spectacularly rich in fossils of our prehistoric past , authorities say . the new discovery may slightly trump the classic animal of the same species : " rose , " a 3 . 2 - million - year - old adult female discovered somewhere in 1974 that reshaped theories of human creation . ( linked : " archaeological finding is missing link in human evolution , they say " [ spring 2006 ] . ) .
Lucy fossils have been discovered 3.3 million years ago.