Extinct subtribe of the Hominini tribe, and members of the human clade
Australopithecines
Temporal range: Late Miocene–Present, 6.1 – 0 Mya(Range includes humans (Homo))
PreꞒ
Ꞓ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Australopithecus sediba
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Primates
Suborder:
Haplorhini
Infraorder:
Simiiformes
Family:
Hominidae
Subfamily:
Homininae
Tribe:
Hominini
Subtribe:
Australopithecina Gregory & Hellman, 1939
Type species
†Australopithecus africanus
Dart, 1925
Genera
Australopithecus (cladistically including
Homo
Kenyanthropus
Paranthropus)
Praeanthropus (sometimes used)
Ardipithecus (debated[1])
Orrorin (most likely)
Sahelanthropus (possibly)
Graecopithecus (possibly)
Synonyms
Hominina Gray 1825[2] sensu Andrew & Harrison 2005[3]
The australopithecines, formally Australopithecina or Hominina, are generally any species in the related genera of Australopithecus and Paranthropus. It may also include members of Kenyanthropus,[4]Ardipithecus,[4] and Praeanthropus.[5] The term comes from a former classification as members of a distinct subfamily, the Australopithecinae.[6] They are now classified within the Australopithecina subtribe of the Hominini tribe.[7][8] All these related species are now sometimes[dubious – discuss] collectively termed australopithecines, australopiths or homininans. They are the extinct, close relatives of modern humans and, together with the extant genus Homo, comprise the human clade. Members of the human clade, i.e. the Hominini after the split from the chimpanzees, are now called Hominina[9] (see Hominidae; terms "hominids" and hominins).
While none of the groups normally directly assigned to this group survived, the australopithecines do not appear to be literally extinct (in the sense of having no living descendants) as the genera Kenyanthropus, Paranthropus and Homo probably emerged as sister of a late Australopithecus species such as A. africanus and/or A. sediba.
The terms australopithecines, et. al., come from a former classification as members of a distinct subfamily, the Australopithecinae.[6] Members of Australopithecus are sometimes referred to as the "gracile australopithecines", while Paranthropus are called the "robust australopithecines".[10][11]
The australopithecines occurred in the Late Miocene sub-epoch and were bipedal, and they were dentally similar to humans, but with a brain size not much larger than that of modern non-human apes, with lesser encephalization than in the genus Homo.[12] Humans (genus Homo) may have descended from australopithecine ancestors and the genera Ardipithecus, Orrorin, Sahelanthropus, and Graecopithecus are the possible ancestors of the australopithecines.[11]
H. erectus (H. antecessor) (H. ergaster) (Au. sediba)
H. heidelbergensis
Homo sapiens
Neanderthals
Denisovans
←
Earlier apes
←
Gorilla split
←
Chimpanzee split
←
Earliest bipedal
←
Earliest sign of Ardipithecus
←
Earliest sign of Australopithecus
←
Earliest stone tools
←
Earliest sign of Homo
←
Dispersal beyond Africa
←
Earliest language
←
Earliest fire / cooking
←
Earliest rock art
←
Earliest clothes
←
Modern humans
H
o
m
i
n
i
d
s
P a r a n t h r o p u s
(million years ago)
^Stanford 2012.
^Gray, J. E. (1825). "An outline of an attempt at the disposition of Mammalia into Tribes and Families, with a list of genera apparently appertaining to each Tribe". Annals of Philosophy. New Series. 10: 337–340.
^Andrews, Peter; Harrison, Terry (1 January 2005). "The Last Common Ancestor of Apes and Humans". Interpreting the Past: 103–121. doi:10.1163/9789047416616_013. ISBN 9789047416616. S2CID 203884394.
^ abWood 2010.
^Cela-Conde & Ayala 2003.
^ abKottak 2004.
^Wood & Richmond 2000.
^Briggs & Crowther 2008, p. 124.
^"GEOL 204 The Fossil Record: The Scatterlings of Africa: the Origins of Humanity". www.geol.umd.edu. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
^Mai, Owl & Kersting 2005.
^ abSzpak, P. (2007). "Evolution of the Australopithecines". Tree of Life.
The australopithecines, formally Australopithecina or Hominina, are generally any species in the related genera of Australopithecus and Paranthropus. It...
Australopithecina, which sometimes also includes Ardipithecus, though the term "australopithecine" is sometimes used to refer only to members of Australopithecus. Species...
synonymous with Australopithecus. They are also referred to as the robust australopithecines. They lived between approximately 2.9 and 1.2 million years ago (mya)...
source includes chimpanzees. Humans are the only extant species in the Australopithecine branch (subtribe), which also contains many extinct close relatives...
and is based largely on assuming a similar anatomy to the earlier australopithecines. Because of this, it has also been proposed H. habilis be moved to...
she-demon and alternatively first wife of Adam Lucy, an early female australopithecine that lived 3.2 million years ago Wives aboard Noah's Ark, the first...
with Yves Coppens and Maurice Taieb, the fossil of a female hominin australopithecine known as "Lucy" in the Afar Triangle region of Hadar, Ethiopia. Johanson...
Australopithecus bahrelghazali is an extinct species of australopithecine discovered in 1995 at Koro Toro, Bahr el Gazel, Chad, existing around 3.5 million...
bones of Australopithecus (later this attribution was widened to australopithecines or other early hominins). The pebble and all its markings are formed...
Paranthropus robustus is a species of robust australopithecine from the Early and possibly Middle Pleistocene of the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa...
Australopithecus sediba is an extinct species of australopithecine recovered from Malapa Cave, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. It is known from a partial...
Paranthropus boisei is a species of australopithecine from the Early Pleistocene of East Africa about 2.5 to 1.15 million years ago. The holotype specimen...
Australopithecus africanus is an extinct species of australopithecine which lived between about 3.3 and 2.1 million years ago in the Late Pliocene to...
that make anthropologists believe that SK 847 is not part of the australopithecine group. SK 847 has a relatively short and narrow face, pronounced brow...
(including the Australopithecine and Panina subtribes) parted from the Gorillini tribe (gorillas) between 8 and 9 mya; Australopithecine (including the...
gracile as opposed to robust australopithecine). According to Koenigswald (1973) both robust and gracile australopithecine traits can be found in Sangiran...
the importance of this for the emergence of Homo erectus from its australopithecine ancestors, including the production of stone tools and eventually...
humans and Neanderthals. Several features distinguish H. ergaster from australopithecines as well as earlier and more basal species of Homo, such as H. habilis...
or beyond the range of variation for australopithecines in regard to these features. Multiple australopithecine species may have coexisted by foraging...
Australopithecus garhi is a species of australopithecine from the Bouri Formation in the Afar Region of Ethiopia 2.6–2.5 million years ago (mya) during...
Australopithecus afarensis is an extinct species of australopithecine which lived from about 3.9–2.9 million years ago (mya) in the Pliocene of East Africa...
during the Paleolithic period, when the hominins developed from the australopithecines in Africa and eventually into modern Homo sapiens. Archaeology also...
the earliest known robust hominid ancestor and the oldest robust australopithecine discovered to date. The prominence of the crest appears to have been...
approximately 1.9 million years ago (mya); then came a contemporary australopithecine, Paranthropus boisei, 1.8 mya, followed by Homo erectus, 1.2 mya....
Global Information
