Hadar or Hadar Formation (also spelled Qad daqar, Qadaqar; Afar "white [qidi] stream [daqar]")^[1] is a paleontological fossil site located in Mille district, Administrative Zone 1 of the Afar Region, Ethiopia, 15 km upstream (west) of the A1 road's bridge across the Awash River (Adayitu kebele).^[2]

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Hadar

"Lucy", a 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis fossil discovered in Hadar, Ethiopia
Site location in Ethiopia
Location	Mille district, Afar Region,  Ethiopia
Region	Eastern Africa
Coordinates	11.167°N 40.633°E / 11.167; 40.633
Type	Archaeological Paleontology
History
Periods	Middle - Late Pliocene
Site notes
Excavation dates	1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 2000
Archaeologists	Donald Johanson Maurice Taieb Denis Geraads Zeresenay Alemseged
Condition	Excavated
Ownership	Ethiopian Government

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It is situated on the southern edge of the Afar Triangle (part of East Africa's Great Rift Valley), along the left banks of the Awash River, between two minor tributaries, the eponymous Kada Hadar and the Kada Gona.^[2] In 1972, Taieb organized a small exploratory reconnaissance of the Afar region to investigate more paleontological finds there. After six weeks of exploration, the party focused on the Hadar site.^[3]

The site has yielded some of the most well-known hominin fossils, including "Lucy". These hominin fossils range in age from approximately 3.42 to 2.90 million years ago. These finds give us a greater understanding of hominin evolution during this period.

It is postulated that the specimens in the region were deposited by way of a large river system with associated crevasse channels/splays, deltas, and distributary channels, as well as periodic transgressions of paleolake Hadar located east of the research area (Aronson and Taieb, 1981, Tiercelin, 1986, Campisano and Feibel, in press) possibly related to geological activity or climatic cycles in at least the Kada Hadar Member (Yemane et al., 1996, Yemane, 1997, Campisano and Feibel, in press)."

According to Jon Kalb, early maps show caravan routes passing within 10 to 15 km of Hadar but not through it. The British explorer L.M. Nesbitt passed 15 km west of Hadar in 1928.^[1]

The region's rocks consist mainly of mudstones, siltstones, fine-grained sandstones and volcanic tuffs. The region of Hadar has been divided into four geologic members — Basal (~3.8–3.42 Ma), Sidi Hakoma (~3.42–3.26 Ma), Denen Dora (~3.26–3.2 Ma), and Kada Hadar (<~3.2 Ma)—with three tuffs (Sidi Hakoma Tuff [SHT], Triple Tuff [TT] and Kada Hadar Tuff [KHT]) separating the four members.

The Sidi Hakoma member tends towards high rainfall and low seasonality. The overlying Denan Dora Member was a grassland habitat. Finally, the Kada Hadar Member was an even more open and arid habitat, as seen in the high abundance of antilopines, which frequent these types of terrains.^[3]

The first paleo-geological explorations of the Hadar area were conducted by Maurice Taieb. He found Hadar in December 1970 by following the Ledi River, which originates in the highlands north of Bati to empty into the Awash River. Taieb recovered several fossils in the area and led a party back to Hadar in May 1972. In October 1973, 16 individuals with the International Afar Research Expedition (IARE) arrived at Hadar and camped there for two months during which the first hominin fossil was found. (Taieb claims in his 1985 book Sur la Terre des premiers Hommes to have discovered the Hadar fields in 1968, but Kalb argues that claim to be incorrect.)^[4] The IARE party examined a series of sedimentary layers called the Hadar Formation, which was dated to the late Pliocene to early Pleistocene epochs (3.5 to 2.3 million years ago).^[5]

Other specimens discovered from the Hadar Formation contain a vast diversity of bovid species found in Africa. The bovids found in the formation included the Aepycerotini (Aepyceros), Alcelaphini (Damalborea and Parmularius), Antilopini (Gazella), Bovini (Ugandax and Pelorovis[?]), Caprini (Budorcas), Cephalophini, Hippotragini (Oryx), Neotragini (Raphicerus[?] and Madoqua), Reduncini (Kobus), and Tragelaphini (Tragelaphus).^[8][9][10] Artiodactyls outside the bovid family were present within the formation as well, namely the giraffids (Giraffa and Sivatherium), Hippopotamidae (Hippopotamus), and suids (Kolpochoerus, Notochoerus, and Nyanzachoerus).^[11] While a definitive list of carnivorans found within the Hadar Formation has yet to be compiled, confirmed genera that were found within the Hadar Formation include canids (Canis and Nyctereutes), felids (Dinofelis,^[12] Leptailurus, Felis, Homotherium, and Panthera), hyaenids (Chasmaporthetes, Ikelohyaena, Crocuta, Hyaena, and cf. Pliocrocuta),^[13] herpestids (Herpestes and cf. Helogale), mustelids (Mellivora, Enhydriodon,^[14] and cf. Poecilogale), and the viverrid (cf. Civettictis). Mammals within the formation outside the artiodactyl and carnivoran families include a bat (indeterminate), the leporid (Lepus), the equid (Eurygnathohippus),^[15] rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium and Diceros),^[16] old world primates (Parapapio, Theropithecus, and Cercopithecoides), proboscideans (the deinothere Deinotherium and elephants Elephas, Loxodonta, and Mammuthus) ^[17][18][19] old world porcupines (Hystrix and Xenohystrix),^[20] murid rodents (Gerbilliscus, Acomys, Golunda, Oenomys, Praomys, Saidomys, Millardia, and Mus),^[21] the spalacid Tachyoryctes, a squirrel indet., and an aardvark species. Taxons within other classes are present within the Hadar Formation as well, such as birds (Plectropterus, Balearica, Anhinga, and Struthio) and reptiles (Crocodylus, Python, Varanus, and Bitis).^{[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]}

• Ledi-Geraru