How many hominids were in the prehistoric times?

Question

was there a hominid called a Astrulaprhistoric Afaransis named Lucy?

Answer 1

You have recieved a lot of good answers so far - the easiest answer is we do not know, and may never as we are unlikely to ever find even one example of every species that ever existed .  Additionally, the number of known species will continue to rise as we find more and more in the years to come.

I do want to point out one issue though in every answer supplied so far.  It is important that when identifying any species such as Australopithecus afarensis (or A. afarensis) that you follow the convention of Capitalizing the first letter of the Genus (Australopithecus) and using a small letter to start the name of the species (afarensis).  If you take a test and do not follow this convention in your answer - the teacher could rightfully mark you answer wrong, even if you have the right names.

Also - Lucy is not famous for being complete - she is only 40% complete, but she is the MOST complete hominid fossil found for her time (>3 million years ago).  Another important aspect of Lucy is that in many cases there is a left or right side that has been recovered.  Since hominid skeletalons are bilaterally symmetrical (same on the right and left) this allows us to visualize an almost complete skeleton by using mirror imaging.

Answer 2

Many hominids predate Homo Sapiens (aka- Modern Man, Us)

They include (but not limited to, can't recall them all) from Homo Erectus, Homo Habilis, Homo Robustus, Australopithecus  Afaransis, Neanderthal Man, and dozens more.  Up until the last 40,000 years or so, there were multiple species of hominids living at the same time (often in the same place).  Around that time, the last group- the Neanderthals died out, presumably b/c they were out competed by Modern Man, who had recently moved into Europe, where the Neanderthals lived.

Most of the skeletons unearthed were nick-named things; Lucy was a skeleton circa 400,000 years old unearthed in Africa (though I can't remember by whom, when or where in Africa).

Answer 3

there weren't any during prehistoric times.  the first reminents are during the Cenazoic time period.  "Lucy" is an australipithicus Afarensis, but she is not the oldest.  Austrilipithicus anamensis came before that and some people argue that ardipithicus ramidus was the earliest possible known.  however, "lucy" is an ethiopian national treasure becuase the is the oldest "complete" hominid fossil ever found....

Answer 4

525

Answer 5

Yes, there was

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australopit...

There are an indefinite number since we haven't found them all.  The ones we have found such as H. habilis have exhibited such variations that it is sometimes believed to be different species.  Some consider Homo rudolphensis to be the same species as well.  Homo erectus and ergaster are sometimes considered the same or closely related.  Homo floresiensis and Homo georgicus seem to be very similar.  Homo Heidelbergensis apparently evolved in H. sapiens (us) and Homo neanderthalensis.  It is a very difficult question.  Even the word hominid is sometimes defined as everthing on the human branch after the split with our common chimp ancestors.  This might include species such as Sahelanthropus, ardipithecus, an australopithecus or two,  and the other hominids mentioned.  There were closely related hominoids such as paranthropus that were more robust and more primitive looking.  Some do not consider Lucy (Australopithecus Afarensis)  in our ancestry anymore.  There are lots of hominids but still the evidence is sparse.