Australopithecus

[aw-strey-loh-pith-i-kuhs, -puh-thee-kuhs, aw-struh-loh-]

noun

1. an extinct genus of small-brained, large-toothed bipedal hominins that lived in Africa between one and four million years ago: the genus Homo, to which modern humans belong, is believed to have evolved from this genus or to have shared a common ancestor.

Australopithecus

1. An extinct genus of the hominid family that lived in Africa from about three to one million years ago. The name means “southern ape.”

Members of this genus were the ancestors of modern humans. One of the best-known fossils, Lucy, was a member of this genus.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Australopithecus¹

First recorded in 1920–25; from New Latin: literally “southern ape,” equivalent to austrāl(is) “southern” + -o- connecting vowel + pithēcus “ape,” from Greek píthēkos. See austral ¹, -o-,

Example Sentences

That view shifted when researchers analysed 51 fossil teeth from a range of hominids and great apes, including Australopithecus africanus, Paranthropus robustus, early Homo, Neanderthals, and Homo sapiens.

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The samples included both modern and archaic humans such as Neanderthals, early human ancestors like Australopithecus africanus, and extinct great apes including Gigantopithecus blacki.

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In northern Tanzania, footprints helped anthropologists understand that other hominin species also coexisted near the famous human ancestor “Lucy,” a species known as Australopithecus afarensis, dating back roughly 3 million years ago.

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The long trackway, however, was made by a single individual who left a flatter print, more like that of the Australopithecus at Laetoli.

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Between 2 million and 3 million years ago, many kinds of hominins walked the same African landscapes as Lucy’s species, Australopithecus afarensis.

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