Paranthropus boisei
Americannoun
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an extinct species of very rugged, large-toothed bipedal hominin, originally named Zinjanthropus boisei and later Australopithecus boisei, that lived in eastern Africa about 1–2 million years ago.
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a fossil belonging to this species.
Etymology
Origin of Paranthropus boisei
First recorded in 1955–60; from New Latin; Paranthropus ( def. ) + boisei after Charles Boise, a benefactor of L.S.B. Leakey, who described and named the original finds in 1959
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 researchers used analytical techniques first developed by their team in 2024 to identify the footprints as belonging to Paranthropus boisei.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
“If Homo erectus ate considerably more animal foods than Paranthropus boisei, that alone would guarantee rather different niches,” Sponheimer told Salon in a phone interview.
From Salon ● Nov. 29, 2024
In 1955, Louis and Mary Leakey discovered the Nutcracker Man, a skull with a robust jaw and teeth now classified as Paranthropus boisei, in the same 1.8-million-year-old layer of sediments as Oldowan tools.
From Science Magazine ● Feb. 8, 2023
They were likely Homo erectus, says Hlubik, though Homo habilis and Paranthropus boisei were also in the area.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 19, 2017
Paranthropus includes Paranthropus robustus of South Africa, and Paranthropus aethiopicus and Paranthropus boisei of East Africa.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
