The discovery of a partial Australopithecus afarensis skeleton—commonly referred to as “Lucy”—was arguably one of the most exciting paleontological discoveries of the 20th century. One of the men behind it, Yves Coppens, died on June 22 at the age of 87, according to a Twitter announcement posted by his editor.
Born in the Brittany region of France in 1934, Coppens was raised by a geologist father and concert pianist mother. He had been interested in paleontology from a young age, according to The Guardian. He cherished seeing iron age artifacts in his local museum and began collecting his own while still in school, submitting papers on his discoveries to archaeology journals.
Coppens studied natural sciences at the University of Rennes, graduating in 1956 before attending the University of Paris-Sorbonne, where he earned a PhD in paleontology while also conducting research with the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).
While leading ...
