Australopithecus africanus
The fossil that first convinced the world humanity began in Africa.
Overview
When anatomist Raymond Dart described the Taung Child in 1925, he made the then-radical claim that humanity's cradle was Africa, not Europe or Asia. Australopithecus africanus has anchored southern African palaeoanthropology ever since.
It lived from about 3.3 to 2.1 million years ago and is known from rich cave sites like Sterkfontein, including the famous adult cranium 'Mrs Ples'.
Anatomy & Body
A. africanus was a gracile australopith — bipedal, with a slightly more rounded braincase and somewhat smaller, more human-like face and teeth than A. afarensis, though still with a projecting jaw.
Like its relatives it retained climbing adaptations in the upper body, and was small-bodied with notable size differences between the sexes.
Brain & Cognition
At around 450 cc its brain was modestly larger than earlier australopiths. Endocasts suggest a still ape-like organisation, but the trend toward expansion that would define Homo was beginning.
Behavior & Culture
Dietary studies of tooth chemistry show a broad, variable diet that included tougher, more open-habitat foods. The Taung Child's skull bears puncture marks now attributed to a large bird of prey — a vivid reminder that these small hominins were prey as well as foragers.
Key Fossils
- Taung 1 (“Taung Child”) — the juvenile skull and natural brain endocast, the type specimen.
- Sts 5 (“Mrs Ples”) — a near-complete adult cranium from Sterkfontein.
- Sts 14 — a partial skeleton preserving the pelvis and spine.
Relationship to Us
A. africanus is variously seen as a direct ancestor of Homo, an ancestor of the robust Paranthropus line, or both — a pivotal but still-debated southern branch.