Paranthropus boisei

American  

[puh-ran-thruh-puhs boi-sey, par-uhn-throh-puhs] / pəˈræn θrə pəs bɔɪˈseɪ, ˌpær ənˈθroʊ pəs /

noun

1. 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.

2. a fossil belonging to this species.

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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

Hominins belonging to the species Homo erectus and Paranthropus boisei, the two most common living human species of the Pleistocene Epoch, made the tracks, the researchers said.

From Science Daily

Paranthropus boisei, however, went extinct within the next few hundred thousand years.

From Science Daily

But these remarkably preserved footprints were the first to indicate that two different species of hominins — including Homo erectus, which is a direct ancestor to humans, and Paranthropus boisei, which was a different species that also descended from the ape ancestor but died off around 1 million years ago.

From Salon

“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

“That our fossil ancestors and close kin needed water in itself is not shocking … But one of the best ways to get sufficient calories given Paranthropus boisei’s chewing anatomy would be to eat plants near water,” Sponheimer said.

From Salon