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The term australopithecine refers generally to any species in the related genera Australopithecus or Paranthropus. These species occurred in the Plio-Pleistocene era, and were bipedal and dentally similar to humans, but with a brain size not much larger than modern apes, lacking the encephalization characteristics of the genus Homo.[1]
They are classified within the Hominina subtribe of the Hominini tribe. They appeared in the Pliocene:
- Australopithecus, appeared about 4 million years ago;
- Paranthropus, appeared about 2.7 million years ago.
When used alone, the term refers to both genera together. Australopithecus is sometimes referred to as the "gracile (slender) australopithecines", while Paranthropus are also called the "robust australopithecines".[2]
A likely ancestor of the Australopithecines is the genus Ardipithecus, which lived in East Africa. The Homo genus (humans, appear about 2.4 million years ago with Homo habilis) appear to be descended from australopithecine ancestors, more precisely from Kenyanthropus platyops branching off Australopithecus some 3.5 million years ago. An alternative possibility is the derivation of Homo directly from Ardipithecus with an as yet undiscovered link connecting Ardipithecus and Homo habilis existing in parallel to the Australopithecines in the period 4 to 2.5 million years ago.
See also [link]
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Look up australopithecine in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
References [link]
- ^ Larry L Mai; Marcus Young Owl; M Patricia Kersting (2005), The Cambridge Dictionary of Human Biology and Evolution, Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, p. 45, ISBN 978-0-521-66486-8
- ^ Larry L Mai; Marcus Young Owl; M Patricia Kersting, (2005). While there are spedific discussions of these terms, description and definition of is found throughout the text, as they relate to various fossils and taxonomic debates etc.
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