The first Australopithecus specimen, the type specimen, was discovered in 1924 in a lime quarry by workers at Taung, South Africa. Taxonomy Research history Taung Child's skull afarensis about 3 million years ago (fingers shortened relative to thumb and changes to the joints between the index finger and the trapezium and capitate). Significant changes to the hand first appear in the fossil record of later A. Īustralopithecus possessed two of three duplicated genes derived from SRGAP2 roughly 3.4 and 2.4 million years ago ( SRGAP2B and SRGAP2C), the second of which contributed to the increase in number and migration of neurons in the human brain. While none of the groups normally directly assigned to this group survived, Australopithecus gave rise to living descendants, as the genus Homo emerged from an Australopithecus species at some time between 3 and 2 million years ago. bahrelghazali indicates the genus was much more widespread than the fossil record suggests), before eventually becoming pseudo-extinct 1.9 million years ago (or 1.2 to 0.6 million years ago if Paranthropus is included). ![]() Australopithecus fossils become more widely dispersed throughout eastern and southern Africa (the Chadian A. ![]() anamensis, existed in eastern Africa around 4.2 million years ago. The earliest known member of the genus, A. Debate exists as to whether some Australopithecus species should be reclassified into new genera, or if Paranthropus and Kenyanthropus are synonymous with Australopithecus, in part because of the taxonomic inconsistency. Australopithecus is a member of the subtribe Australopithecina, which sometimes also includes Ardipithecus, though the term "australopithecine" is sometimes used to refer only to members of Australopithecus. The genera Homo (which includes modern humans), Paranthropus, and Kenyanthropus evolved from some Australopithecus species. ![]() Classically excluded but cladistically included:Īustralopithecus ( / ˌ ɒ s t r ə l ə ˈ p ɪ θ ɪ k ə s/, OS-trə-lə- PITH-i-kəs from Latin australis 'southern', and Ancient Greek πίθηκος (pithekos) 'ape' ) is a genus of early hominins that existed in Africa during the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene.
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