The first of our ancestors were the Australopithecines. Nicknamed “Lucy”, the species was primates and bipedal. They lived during the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene era about 3.9 to 2.8 million years ago in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Most of southern Africa. Some physical characteristics of Australopithecines are: Slightly over 3 feet tall, walked upright (bipedalism), their skull and brain within ape size range, jaw and teeth were human-like, long arms hanging between hips and knees, and short legs. 

Their diet was plant based  and included leaves, fruits, seeds, nuts, insects, and sometimes lizards and amphibians. Lucy was the first species to use tools, the majority of them being made by volcanic rock. Scientists have found some animal bones from the time with cut marks from these rocks indicating the fabrication of tools.