Paranthropus

[ puh-ran-thruh-puhs, par-uhn-throh-puhs ]

noun

1. an extinct genus of bipedal hominins with massive chewing muscles, large teeth, and thick dental enamel: it may have descended from Australopithecus in Africa about 2.7 million years ago.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Paranthropus¹

First recorded in 1935–40; from New Latin: literally “beside man, near man”; equivalent to Greek para- “beside, near” + Greek ánthrōpos “human being”; para-