Editing Australopithecus afarensis (section)

===Pathology===
Australopithecines, in general, seem to have had a high incidence rate of vertebral pathologies, possibly because their vertebrae were better adapted to withstand suspension loads in climbing than compressive loads while walking upright.<ref name=Haile2015/>{{rp|95–97}} Lucy presents marked thoracic [[kyphosis]] (hunchback) and was diagnosed with [[Scheuermann's disease]], probably caused by overstraining her back, which can lead to a hunched posture in modern humans due to irregular curving of the spine. Because her condition presented quite similarly to that seen in modern human patients, this would indicate a basically human range of locomotor function in walking for ''A. afarensis''. The original straining may have occurred while climbing or swinging in the trees, though, even if correct, this does not indicate that her species was maladapted for arboreal behaviour, much like how humans are not maladapted for bipedal posture despite developing [[arthritis]].<ref>{{cite journal|first1=D. C.|last1=Cook|first2=J. E.|last2=Buikstra|first3=C. J.|last3=DeRousseau|first4=D. C.|last4=Johanson|author4-link=Donald Johanson|title=Vertebral Pathology in the Afar Australopithecines|journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|volume=60|issue=1|pages=83–101|doi=10.1002/ajpa.1330600113|year=1983|pmid=6408925}}</ref> KSD-VP-1/1 seemingly exhibits compensatory action by the neck and lumbar vertebrae (gooseneck) consistent with thoracic kyphosis and Scheuermann's disease, but thoracic vertebrae are not preserved in this specimen.<ref name=Haile2015/>{{rp|95–97}}

In 2010, KSD-VP-1/1 presented evidence of a [[valgus deformity]] of the left ankle involving the [[fibula]], with a bony ring developing on the fibula's joint surface extending the bone an additional {{cvt|5–10|mm}}. This was probably caused by a [[fibular fracture]] during childhood which improperly healed in a [[nonunion]].<ref name=Haile2015/>{{rp|162–163}}

In 2016, palaeoanthropologist John Kappelman argued that the fracturing exhibited by Lucy was consistent with a [[proximal humerus fracture]], which is most often caused by falling in humans. He then concluded she died from falling out of a tree, and that ''A. afarensis'' slept in trees or climbed trees to escape predators. However, similar fracturing is exhibited in many other creatures in the area, including the bones of [[antelope]], [[elephant]]s, [[giraffe]]s and [[rhino]]s, and may well simply be [[taphonomic bias]] (fracturing was caused by fossilisation).<ref>{{cite journal|first=A.|last=Gibbons|year=2016|title=Did famed human ancestor 'Lucy' fall to her death?|journal=Science|doi=10.1126/science.aah7237}}</ref> Lucy may also have been killed in an animal attack or a [[mudslide]].<ref>{{cite journal|first1=P.|last1=Charlier|first2=Y.|last2=Coppens|author2-link=Yves Coppens|first3=A.|last3=Augias|display-authors=et al.|year=2018|title=Mudslide and/or animal attack are more plausible causes and circumstances of death for AL 288 ('Lucy'): A forensic anthropology analysis|journal=Medico-Legal Journal|volume=86|issue=3|pages=139–142|doi=10.1177/0025817217749504|pmid=29313437|s2cid=20995655}}</ref>

The 13 AL 333 individuals are thought to have been deposited at about the same time as one another, bear little evidence of carnivore activity, and were buried on a {{cvt|7|m|adj=on}} stretch of a hill. In 1981, anthropologists James Louis Aronson and Taieb suggested they were killed in a [[flash flood]]. British archaeologist [[Paul Pettitt]] considered natural causes unlikely and, in 2013, speculated that these individuals were purposefully hidden in tall grass by other hominins (funerary caching).<ref>{{cite book|first=P.|last=Pettitt|author-link=Paul Pettitt|year=2013|title=The Palaeolithic Origins of Human Burial|publisher=Routledge|pages=44–45|isbn=978-1-136-69910-8}}</ref> This behaviour has been documented in modern primates, and may be done so that the recently deceased do not attract predators to living grounds.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=P.|last1=Pettitt|author-link=Paul Pettitt|first2=J. R.|last2=Anderson|year=2019|title=Primate thanatology and hominoid mortuary archeology|journal=Primates|volume=61|issue=1|page=10|doi=10.1007/s10329-019-00769-2|pmid=31646398|pmc=6971134|doi-access=free}}</ref>