Australopithecus

Examples of Australopithecus in the following topics:

• Early Hominins

  • A key feature that Australopithecus had in common with modern humans was bipedalism, although it is likely that Australopithecus also spent time in trees.
  • Australopithecus anamensis lived about 4.2 million years ago.
  • Australopithecus africanus lived between 2 and 3 million years ago.
  • Two other species, Australopithecus bahrelghazali and Australopithecus garhi, have been added to the roster of australopiths in recent years.
  • They include Australopithecus robustus of South Africa, and Australopithecus aethiopicus and Australopithecus boisei of East Africa.

• Early Homo

  • The Homo genus, to which humans belong, evolved from our close primate relatives, Australopithecus, and is distinguished by cranial size.
  • The Australopithecus genus evolved in eastern Africa around 4 million years ago before spreading throughout the continent, eventually becoming extinct 2 million years ago.
  • During this time period various forms of australopiths existed, including Australopithecus anamensis, A. afarensis, A. sediba, and A. africanus.

• Early Human Evolution

  • Hominins, who were bipedal in comparison to the other hominoids who were primarily quadrupedal, includes those groups that probably gave rise to our species: Australopithecus africanus, Homo habilis, and Homo erectus, along with non-ancestral groups such as Australopithecus boisei.

• Primates

  • Homo, estimated to be about 2.4 million years old, evolved from Australopithecus ancestors.

• Genus Homo

  • In comparison to Australopithecus africanus, H. habilis had a number of features more similar to modern humans.

• The Evolution of Humans

  • The second stage, around four million years ago, was marked by the appearance of Australopithecus, and the third, around 2.7 million years ago, featured Paranthropus.