Australopithecus afarensis
Americannoun
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an extinct species of early hominin whose fossil remains were discovered in Ethiopia and have been dated at about 2.8–4 million years of age.
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a fossil belonging to this species.
Etymology
Origin of Australopithecus afarensis
First recorded in 1975–80; from New Latin; Australopithecus ( def. ) + afarēnsis, after the Afar region of Ethiopia, where Lucy was found. See -ensis
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The crocodile lived between 3.4 million and 3 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia, during the same period and in the same region inhabited by Lucy and her species, Australopithecus afarensis.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 13, 2026
Presumably, the character of Lucy was given her name as a nod to our earliest known ancestor, a 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis who stood about the same height as Ben.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2026
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.
From Salon ● Nov. 29, 2024
Many speculated they were left by close kin of the famous fossil hominin known as Lucy, a member of Australopithecus afarensis, a human ancestor that lived between 3.9 and 3 million years ago.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 1, 2021
More is known about another early species, Australopithecus afarensis, which lived between 3.9 and 2.9 million years ago.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
