Australopithecus africanus

[aw-strey-loh-pith-i-kuhs af-ri-kah-nuhs, -kan-uhs, -puh-thee-kuhs, aw-struh-loh-]

noun

1. an extinct species of gracile hominin, formerly known as Plesianthropus transvaalensis, that lived in southern Africa about 2–3.3 million years ago.

2. a fossil belonging to this species.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Australopithecus africanus¹

First recorded in 1920–25; from New Latin Australopithecus ( def. ) + Latin āfricānus “African.” See African

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 the 1950s, Australian-born South African paleoanthropologist Raymond Dart, who famously discovered our ancestor Australopithecus africanus, suggested that our ancestors were using bones as weapons to not only kill animals but also their own kind.

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He named the prehuman species Australopithecus africanus — the southern ape of Africa.

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For years scientists believed the Australopithecus africanus species, whose fossils were discovered in the Sterkfontein caves near Johannesburg, had been less than 2.6 million years old.

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