What is Australopithecus?

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About Australopithecus:

Australopithecus, (genus Australopithecus) is a group of extinct primates known from a series of fossils found at numerous sites in eastern, north-central, and southern Africa.
They are the closest known relatives of our genus, Homo.
The various species of Australopithecus lived 4.4 million to 1.4 million years ago (mya), during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs (which lasted from 5.3 million to 11,700 years ago).
The genus name, meaning “southern ape,” refers to the first fossils found, which were discovered in South Africa.
Perhaps the most famous specimen of Australopithecus is “Lucy,” a remarkably preserved fossilized skeleton from Ethiopia that has been dated to 3.2 mya.
Features:
- As characterized by the fossil evidence, members of Australopithecus bore a combination of humanlike and apelike traits.
- Members of this species had apelike face proportions (a flat nose, a strongly projecting lower jaw) and braincase (with a small brain, usually less than 500 cubic centimeters – about 1/3 the size of a modern human brain), and long, strong arms with curved fingers adapted for climbing trees.
- They also had small canine teeth like all other early humans, and a body that stood on two legs and regularly walked upright.
- They were roughly 1.2-1.5 m tall and probably weighed about 30-50 kg.
- Males were almost twice the size of females, a level of difference, or sexual dimorphism, greater than modern chimpanzees or humans but less than gorillas or orangutans.
- They had mainly a plant-based diet, including leaves, fruit, seeds, roots, nuts, and insects.

Q1: How old is mankind?

Fossils and DNA suggest people looking like us, anatomically modern Homo sapiens, evolved around 300,000 years ago. Surprisingly, archaeology – tools, artefacts, cave art – suggest that complex technology and cultures, “behavioural modernity”, evolved more recently: 50,000-65,000 years ago.

Source: SN