Ardipithecus ramidus

American  

[ahr-duh-pith-i-kuhs ram-i-duhs, ahr-duh-puh-thee-kuhs] / ˌɑr dəˈpɪθ ɪ kəs ˈræm ɪ dəs, ˌɑr də pəˈθi kəs /

noun

1. an extinct species of early hominin whose fossil remains were discovered in Ethiopia in the 1990s and have been dated at about 4.4 million years of age: evidence suggests a probable combination of bipedal and tree-climbing behavior, and some believe the species shares a human and African ape lineage, with no direct skeletal relationship to the chimpanzee.

2. a fossil belonging to this species, most notably the female specimen named Ardi.

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Etymology

Origin of Ardipithecus ramidus

Ardipithecus ( def. ) + New Latin ramidus, equivalent to Afar ramid “root” (from the closeness of this species to the roots of humanity) + -us adjective suffix; coined by U.S. paleoanthropologist Tim White (born 1950) and his colleagues in 1994. At the time of this discovery, the genus Australopithecus was well established, and White coined the genus name Ardipithecus to distinguish the new genus from Australopithecus

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Ardipithecus ramidus

“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

However, fossils of the ancient potential hominin Ardipithecus ramidus suggest that living apes might have evolved quite specialized locomotion compared with their earlier ancestors.

From Nature ● Nov. 5, 2019

Lovejoy thinks these neurochemical changes were already in place more than 4.4 million year ago when Ardipithecus ramidus, an early member of the human family, lived in Ethiopia.

From Science Magazine ● Jan. 22, 2018

In Ethiopia in 1992, White discovered what was then the oldest known hominin fossil: Ardipithecus ramidus.

From The New Yorker ● Jun. 20, 2016

In 2009 Owen Lovejoy made the case for monogamy based on the fossil remains of the early human ancestor Ardipithecus ramidus.

From Scientific American ● Jan. 6, 2012

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