Ardipithecus

American  

[ahr-di-pith-i-kuhs, ‐pi-thee-kuhs] / ˌɑr dɪˈpɪθ ɪ kəs, ‐pɪˈθi kəs /

noun

1. a genus of extinct hominine of the late Miocene and early Pliocene epochs, known from remains found in northeastern Ethiopia in the 1990s: its two named species are A. ramidus and A. kadabba .

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Etymology

Origin of Ardipithecus

First recorded in 1990–95; from New Latin, from Afar ard, ardi “earth” (from Arabic ʔarḍ ) + Latin pithēcus “ape” (from Greek píthēkos )

Example Sentences

Their results suggest that early hominins such as Ardipithecus and Australopithecus probably showed only mild right-hand preferences, similar to what is seen in modern great apes today.

From Science Daily • May 18, 2026

Ardipithecus, he says, “makes Lucy and Co. downright humanlike in comparison.”

From Science Magazine • Apr. 3, 2024

“Clickbait,” said Tim D. White, a paleoanthropologist at the University of California, Berkeley, who is best known for leading the team that discovered Ardipithecus ramidus, a 4.4 million-year-old likely human forebear.

From New York Times • Jul. 1, 2023

This foot evolved into a transitional foot capable of both grasping and walking, as seen in the fossil known as Ardi, a member of Ardipithecus ramidus that lived in Aramis, Ethiopia, 4.4 million years ago.

From Scientific American • Nov. 5, 2022

In the intervening years, several more specimens of Ardipithecus, classified as two different species, demonstrated that the organism was bipedal.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015