Echoing the criticism made of his father's habilis skulls, he added that Lucy's skull was so incomplete that most of it was 'imagination made of plaster of Paris', thus making it impossible to draw any firm conclusion about what species she belonged to.

Whether or not all this came to pass in an East African ditch, I wouldn't like to say. Perhaps it happened in North Africa or further west, but Africa was definitely the place.

Primates need good nutrition, to begin with. Not only fruits and plants, but insects as well.

It occurred to me that if I did not handle the crash correctly, there would be no survivors.

We hope to find more pieces of the puzzle which will shed light on the connection between this upright, walking ape, our early ancestor, and modern man.

It's the next annihilation of vast numbers of species. It is happening now, and we, the human race, are its cause

To have arrived on this earth as a product of a biological accident, only to depart through human arrogance, would be the ultimate irony.