n.
(Latin; " southern ape ")
Genus of extinct hominids that lived in southern and eastern Africa from the early Pliocene Epoch (beginning 0441; 5 million years ago) to the beginning of the Pleistocene ( 0441; 1.8 million years ago).
The group is believed to be ancestral to modern human beings ( Homo sapiens ). Australopithecines are distinguished from apes by their upright posture and bipedal gait. Their brains were small, not very different from those of living apes, but their teeth were more humanlike than apelike. Three species of gracile australopithecines have been identified: A. anamensis (4.2 million3.9 million years ago), A. afarensis (3.9 million2.9 million years ago) and A. africanus (3 million2 million years ago). Two species of robust australopithecines, A. robustus (2 million1 million years ago) and A. boisei (2.3 million1.4 million years ago), have been identified. Both robust species apparently evolved from the gracile species and eventually became extinct without evolutionary successors. A. afarensis or A. anamensis may have given rise to the genus Homo . See also Hadar remains ; human evolution ; Laetoli footprints ; Lucy ; Olduvai Gorge ; Sterkfontein .
Lateral view of skull of Australopithecus africanus found at Sterkfontein, S.Af.
Courtesy of the Transvaal Museum, Pretoria, S.Af.