Australopithecus africanus

[ aw-strey-loh-pith-i-kuhs af-ri-kah-nuhs, -kan-uhs, -puh-thee-kuhs, aw-struh-loh- ]

noun

1. an extinct species of gracile hominin, formerly known as Plesianthropus transvaalensis, that lived in southern Africa about 2–3.3 million years ago.
2. a fossil belonging to this species.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Australopithecus africanus¹

First recorded in 1920–25; from New Latin Australopithecus ( def ) + Latin āfricānus “African.” See African

Example Sentences

In the 1950s, Australian-born South African paleoanthropologist Raymond Dart, who famously discovered our ancestor Australopithecus africanus, suggested that our ancestors were using bones as weapons to not only kill animals but also their own kind.

From Salon

He named the prehuman species Australopithecus africanus — the southern ape of Africa.

From New York Times

For years scientists believed the Australopithecus africanus species, whose fossils were discovered in the Sterkfontein caves near Johannesburg, had been less than 2.6 million years old.

From BBC

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

Dart therefore described the Taung Child as a ‘man-ape’ rather than an ‘ape-man’, like Java Man, and named the species Australopithecus africanus, which means southern ape from Africa.

From Nature