Australopithecus

Australopithecus is a fossil bipedal primate found in Pliocene and lower Pleistocene deposits in Africa. The deposits are estimated 4 million to 1 million years old. The bipedal primate had human and apelike characteristics. It belonged to the genus Australopithecus, and the family Hominidae.

Several species of Australopithecus have been found. One of them is the lightly built Australopithecus africanus, which is perhaps the immediate ancestor of the human genus Homo.

Australopithecus robustus and Australopithecus boisei are more heavily built, and are placed under another genus called Paranthropus which are thought to be dead ends of the evolutionary process.