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 Early Pleistocene of South Africa.[1] The species has been recovered from Taung, Sterkfontein, Makapansgat, and Gladysvale. The first specimen, the Taung child, was described by anatomist Raymond Dart in 1924, and was the first early hominin found. However, its closer relations to humans than to other apes would not become widely accepted until the middle of the century because most had believed humans evolved outside of Africa. It is unclear how A. africanus relates to other hominins, being variously placed as ancestral to Homo and Paranthropus, to just Paranthropus, or to just P. robustus. The specimen "Little Foot" is the most completely preserved early hominin, with 90% of the skeleton intact, and the oldest South African australopith. However, it is controversially suggested that it and similar specimens be split off into "A. prometheus".
A. africanus brain volume was about 420–510 cc (26–31 cu in). Like other early hominins, the cheek teeth were enlarged and had thick enamel. Male skulls may have been more robust than female skulls. Males may have been on average 140 cm (4 ft 7 in) in height and 40 kg (88 lb) in weight, and females 125 cm (4 ft 1 in) and 30 kg (66 lb). A. africanus was a competent biped, albeit less efficient at walking than humans. A. africanus also had several upper body traits in common with arboreal non-human apes. This is variously interpreted as either evidence of a partially or fully arboreal lifestyle, or as a non-functional vestige from a more apelike ancestor. The upper body of A. africanus is more apelike than that of the East African A. afarensis.
A. africanus, unlike most other primates, seems to have exploited C4 foods such as grasses, seeds, rhizomes, underground storage organs, or potentially creatures higher up on the food chain. Nonetheless, the species had a highly variable diet, making it a generalist. It may have eaten lower quality, harder foods, such as nuts, in leaner times. To survive, children may have needed nursing during such periods until reaching perhaps 4 to 5 years of age. The species appears to have been patrifocal, with females more likely to leave the group than males. A. africanus lived in a gallery forest surrounded by more open grasslands or bushlands. South African australopithecine remains probably accumulated in caves due to predation by large carnivores (namely big cats), and the Taung child appears to have been killed by a bird of prey. A. africanus probably went extinct due to major climatic variability and volatility and possibly competition with Homo and P. robustus.
Australopithecusafricanus is an extinct species of australopithecine which lived between about 3.3 and 2.1 million years ago in the Late Pliocene to Early...
humans), Paranthropus, and Kenyanthropus evolved from some Australopithecus species. Australopithecus is a member of the subtribe Australopithecina, which sometimes...
Australopithecus sediba is an extinct species of australopithecine recovered from Malapa Cave, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. It is known from a partial...
9 million years ago were recovered from East Africa. Because Australopithecusafricanus fossils were commonly being discovered throughout the 1920s and...
Several species, including Australopithecus garhi, Australopithecus sediba, Australopithecusafricanus, and Australopithecus afarensis, have been proposed...
Taung Child (or Taung Baby) is the fossilised skull of a young Australopithecusafricanus. It was discovered in 1924 by quarrymen working for the Northern...
contested, with many researchers recommending it be synonymised with Australopithecusafricanus, the only other early hominin known at the time, but H. habilis...
were the site of the discovery of a 2.3-million-year-old fossil Australopithecusafricanus (nicknamed "Mrs. Ples"), found in 1947 by Robert Broom and John...
compared to other Australopithecus, either had a slower overall growth rate, or a more rapid leg growth rate. The Ethiopian Australopithecus garhi was first...
evidenced by morphological characteristics found in Australopithecus anamensis and Australopithecus afarensis forelimbs, and that it is less parsimonious...
Look up africanus in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Africanus is Latin for "African". It may refer to: Africanus Fabius Maximus, the younger son of Quintus...
called “A New Study of the Scapula of Australopithecusafricanus from Sterkfontein”, it was seen that A. africanus had a higher scapular position which...
invalid grouping and synonymous with Australopithecus, so the species is also often classified as Australopithecus boisei. Robust australopithecines are...
strengthening Dart's claim that the skull known as the Taung Child (an Australopithecusafricanus) was a human ancestor. There was a pause in excavation during...
around 7 million years ago, including Sahelanthropus tchadensis, Australopithecusafricanus, A. afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis and H. ergaster—the earliest...
to between three and one million years ago, including Australopithecusafricanus, Australopithecus sediba and Paranthropus robustus. However, it is not...
involvement in the 1924 discovery of the first fossil found of Australopithecusafricanus, an extinct hominin closely related to humans, at Taung in the...
invalid grouping and synonymous with Australopithecus, so the species is also often classified as Australopithecus robustus. Robust australopithecines—as...
forms of australopiths existed, including Australopithecus anamensis, Au. afarensis, Au. sediba, and Au. africanus. There is still some debate among academics...
genus Australopithecus and robust australopiths in the genus Paranthropus. During the 1960s, the robust variety was commonly moved into Australopithecus. A...
Australopithecus (Zinjanthropus) boisei in 1964, but in 1967, South African palaeoanthropologist Phillip V. Tobias subsumed it into Australopithecus as...
observations of morphological characteristics found in Australopithecus anamensis and Australopithecus afarensis, and posited that knuckle-walking was an...
2006-01-18. Retrieved 2006-07-11. Image at Modern Human Origins. "Australopithecusafricanus". Australian Museum. 20 January 2011. Herries, Andy I.R.; Shaw...
Moravče, Slovenia Mrs. Ples, the popular nickname for a complete Australopithecusafricanus skull All pages with titles containing Ples Pleš (disambiguation)...
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