Paranthropus robustus

[ puh-ran-thruh-puhs roh-buhs-tuhs, par-uhn-throh-puhs ]

noun

1. an extinct species of large-toothed bipedal hominin, formerly named Australopithecus robustus, that lived in southern Africa about 1.5–2 million years ago.
2. a fossil belonging to this species.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Paranthropus robustus¹

First recorded in 1935–40; from New Latin; Paranthropus ( def ) + Latin rōbustus “oaken, hard, firm, strong”; robust

Example Sentences

These fossils came from two other hominin species: the large-toothed Paranthropus robustus and the much more humanlike H. erectus.

From Scientific American

In 2018 a student excavator, Samantha Good, came upon the adult male skull of a Paranthropus robustus, lying upside down, with the upper teeth showing.

From Scientific American

While the species Paranthropus robustus, a cousin to our own lineage, is already known to science, the discovery of such a complete skull precipitated a quest to reassess everything we thought we knew about our extinct relative.

From Scientific American

In the case of the new Paranthropus robustus cranium, labeled DNH 155, these new questions all centered on the tempo and mode of how human microevolution—small changes within a species—occurred in response to an evolving climate two million years ago.

From Scientific American

In chimpanzees and various other human ancestors such as Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus, the inner ear is not designed to resolve the frequency band of language particularly well.

From Scientific American