Human ancestor 'Lucy' adept at tree climbing as well as walking

Paleoanthropologist John Kappelman is seen with 3D printouts of Lucy’s skeleton illustrating the compressive fractures in her right humerus that she suffered at the time of her death 3.18 million years ago in this image from the University of Texas at Austin, U.S. for release on November, 30, 2016. Courtesy Marsha Miller/The University of Texas at Austin/Handout via REUTERS

Scientists using sophisticated scanning technology on the fossil bones of the ancient human ancestor from Ethiopia dubbed "Lucy" have determined that she was adept at climbing trees as well as walking, an ability that in her case may have proven fatal.

Researchers on Wednesday announced the results of an intensive analysis of the 3.18 million-year-old fossils of Lucy, a member of a species early in the human evolutionary lineage known as Australopithecus afarensis.