Australopithecus

American  

[aw-strey-loh-pith-i-kuhs, -puh-thee-kuhs, aw-struh-loh-] / ɔˌstreɪ loʊˈpɪθ ɪ kəs, -pəˈθi kəs, ˌɔ strə loʊ- /

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 Cultural  

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.”

---

Discover More

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

Etymology

Origin of Australopithecus

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

See Examples For:

Australopithecus

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

Diet could help answer one of the biggest mysteries raised by the fossils: how did early Homo and this unidentified Australopithecus share the same place?

From Science Daily ● May 16, 2026

The 2025 study adds another layer to that story by describing teeth from both Homo and an unidentified species of Australopithecus.

From Science Daily ● May 16, 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

Humans first evolved in East Africa about 2.5 million years ago from an earlier genus of apes called Australopithecus, which means ‘Southern Ape’.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari