the world ' s oldest known child has been recovered in east africa in an area known thereafter as the cradle of humanity . the 3 . 3 - 300 - year - old petrified toddler was uncovered in north ethiopia ' s badlands within the great rift delta ( map of ethiopia ) . the skeleton , belonging to the earliest child being anatomically afarensis , is remarkable for its age and completeness , only for a region tragically filled in fossils of our ancient ancestors , experts saying . the new find will even supplement the superstar fossil of the same genus : " lucy , " a 3 . 2 - 300 - year - old child female discovered local in 1974 that reshaped theories of human evolution . ( entitled : " fossils find is missing link in human evolution , scientists say " [ april 2006 ] . ) .
Lucy fossils have been discovered 3.3 million years ago.