You don't need to be a paleontologist-in-training to appreciate this full-size replica of the cranium of Australopithecus afarensis. An ancestor to humans, the bipedal afarensis was relatively short (3 to 4 feet tall) and lived 3 to 4 million years ago. Fossils of this species have been found in Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Kenya. The skull depicts an individual with a small brain, large face, and teeth that are bigger than a man's but smaller than those of an ape. Cast in durable gypsum cement, the skull is one of five in a Hominid series sculpted by Larry Williams for Skullduggery. In creating the series, Williams relied on casts, photographs, and published accounts of hominid fossils. Stained a rich ochre, this reproduction looks and feels like it could be in a museum. The skull measures 4.5 inches high, 6.25 inches wide, and 8 inches long.
--Louise Carter