Editing Australopithecus afarensis (section)

===Size===
{{Multiple image|align=left|total_width=400px|image1=NHM - Australopithecus afarensis Modell 1.jpg|image2=NHM - Australopithecus afarensis Modell 2.jpg|footer=Reconstruction of a male (left) and female (right) ''A. afarensis'' at the [[Natural History Museum, Vienna]]}}
''A. afarensis'' specimens apparently exhibit a wide range of variation, which is generally explained as marked sexual dimorphism with males much bigger than females. In 1991, American anthropologist [[Henry McHenry (anthropologist)|Henry McHenry]] estimated body size by measuring the joint sizes of the leg bones and scaling down a human to meet that size. This yielded {{cvt|151|cm|ftin}} for a presumed male (AL 333–3), whereas Lucy was {{cvt|105|cm|ftin}}.<ref>{{cite journal|first=H. M.|last=McHenry|author-link=Henry McHenry (anthropologist)|year=1991|title=Femoral Lengths and Stature in Plio-Pleistocene Hominids|journal= American Journal of Physical Anthropology|volume=85|issue=2|pages=149–158|doi=10.1002/ajpa.1330850204|pmid=1882979}}</ref> In 1992, he estimated that males typically weighed about {{cvt|44.6|kg}} and females {{cvt|29.3|kg}} assuming body proportions were more humanlike than [[ape]]like. This gives a male to female body mass ratio of 1.52, compared to 1.22 in modern [[human]]s, 1.37 in [[chimpanzee]]s, and about 2 for [[gorilla]]s and [[orangutan]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|first=H. M.|last=McHenry|author-link=Henry McHenry (anthropologist)|year=1992|title=Body Size and Proportions in Early Hominids|journal= American Journal of Physical Anthropology|volume=87|issue=4|pages=407–431|doi=10.1002/ajpa.1330870404|pmid=1580350}}</ref> However, this commonly cited weight figure used only three presumed-female specimens, of which two were among the smallest specimens recorded for the species. It is also contested if australopiths even exhibited heightened sexual dimorphism at all, which if correct would mean the range of variation is normal body size disparity between different individuals regardless of sex. It has also been argued that the [[femoral head]] could be used for more accurate size modeling, and the femoral head size variation was the same for both sexes.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=P. L.|last1=Reno|first2=R. S.|last2=Meindl|first3=M. A.|last3=McCollum|first4=C. O.|last4=Lovejoy|author4-link=Owen Lovejoy|year=2003|title=Sexual dimorphism in ''Australopithecus afarensis'' was similar to that of modern humans|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=100|issue=16|pages=4404–4409|doi=10.1073/pnas.1133180100|pmid=12878734|bibcode=2003PNAS..100.9404R|pmc=170931|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Lucy is one of the most complete Pliocene hominin skeletons, with over 40% preserved, but she was one of the smaller specimens of her species. Nonetheless, she has been the subject of several body mass estimates since her discovery, ranging from {{cvt|13–42|kg}} for absolute lower and upper bounds. Most studies report ranges within {{cvt|25–37|kg}}.<ref name=Brassey2017>{{cite journal |author1=Brassey, C. A. |author2=O'Mahoney, T. G. |author3=Chamberlain, A. T. |author4=Sellers, W. I. |title=A volumetric technique for fossil body mass estimation applied to ''Australopithecus afarensis'' |journal=[[Journal of Human Evolution]] |volume=115 |page=51|year=2018 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.07.014 |pmid=28838563 |bibcode=2018JHumE.115...47B |url=https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/618976/2/deleted_HUMEV-T-16-00432R3.pdf }}</ref>

For the five makers of the Laetoli fossil trackways (S1, S2, G1, G2 and G3), based on the relationship between footprint length and bodily dimensions in modern humans, S1 was estimated to have been considerably large at about {{cvt|165|cm|ftin}} tall and {{cvt|45|kg}} in weight, S2 {{cvt|145|cm|ftin}} and {{cvt|39.5|kg}}, G1 {{cvt|114|cm|ftin}} and {{cvt|30|kg}}, G2 {{cvt|142|cm|ftin}} and {{cvt|39|kg}}, and G3 {{cvt|132|cm|ftin}} and {{cvt|35|kg}}. Based on these, S1 is interpreted to have been a male, and the rest females (G1 and G3 possibly juveniles), with ''A. afarensis'' being a highly dimorphic species.<ref name=Masao2016/>