What Were Australopithecines Like?
Australopithecus is a genus of extinct hominids which lived in Africa from about 4.2 million until about 1 million years ago. It is still uncertain whether Australopithecines were a direct ancestor of humans or whether the genus Homo (to which humans belong) branched off from a still-earlier genus of hominid. Australopithecines were more chimp than human, standing 1-1.2m (3.3-3.9 ft) tall, with a small brain measuring between 370 and 515 cubic centimeters (146-203 inches). This is only about 35% the size of the modern human brain. Australopithecines were mostly bipedal but not very intelligent, possessing only a very primitive tool industry. Australopithecines were thought to have been adapted for both tree-climbing and bipedal or semi-bipedal locomotion. Australopithecines species include A. afarensis, A. africanus, A. anamensis and A. garhi. P. boisei, P. robustus, and P. aethiopicus used to be considered a part of the genus Australopithecines, until they were reclassified in the gen
