The robust australopithecines, members of the extinct hominin genus Paranthropus (Greek para "beside", Greek anthropos "human"), were bipedal hominins that probably descended from the gracile australopithecine hominins (Australopithecus). In biology and ecology, extinction is the ceasing of existence of a species or group of species. ... Genera Gorilla Pan (chimpanzees) Homo (humans) Paranthropus (extinct) Australopithecus (extinct) Sahelanthropus (extinct) Ardipithecus (extinct) Kenyanthropus (extinct) Homininae is a subfamily of Hominidae, including Homo sapiens and some extinct relatives, as well as the gorillas and the chimpanzees. ... A biped is an animal that travels across surfaces supported by two legs. ... [[{{{diversity_link}}}|Diversity]] {{{diversity}}} Binomial name {{{binomial}}} Trinomial name {{{trinomial}}} Type Species {{{type_species}}} Species A. afarensis (Lucy) A. africanus A. anamensis A. bahrelghazali A. garhi Formerly Australopithecus, now Paranthropus [[Image:{{{range_map}}}|{{{range_map_width}}}|]] Synonyms {{{synonyms}}} The gracile australopithecines (members of the genus Australopithecus) are a group of extinct hominids that are closely...

Description

All species of Paranthropus were bipedal, and many lived during a time when species of the genus Homo (which were possibly descended from Australopithecus), were prevalent. Paranthropus first appeared roughly 2.7 million years ago, just before the beginning of the Pleistocene. Most species of Paranthropus had a brain about 40 percent of the size of modern man. There was some size variation between the different species of Paranthropus, but most stood roughly 1.3-1.4 m (4.26 to 4.59 feet) tall and were quite well muscled. Paranthropus is thought to have lived in wooded areas rather than the grasslands of the Australopithecus. Species Homo sapiens See text for extinct species. ... The Pleistocene epoch (IPA: ) on the geologic timescale is the period from 1,808,000 to 11,550 years BP. The Pleistocene epoch had been intended to cover the worlds recent period of repeated glaciations. ... For other uses, see Brain (disambiguation). ... This article is about modern humans. ...

The behavior of Paranthropus was quite different from that of the genus Homo, in that it was not as adaptable to its environment or as resourceful. Evidence of this exists in the form of its physiology which was specifically tailored to a diet of grubs and plants. This would have made it more reliant on favorable environmental conditions than members of the genus Homo, such as Homo habilis, which would eat a much wider variety of foods. Binomial name Leakey et al, 1964 Homo habilis (IPA ) (handy man, skillful person) is a species of the genus Homo, which lived from approximately 2. ...

Disputed taxonomy

Opinions differ as to whether the species P. aethiopicus, P. boisei and P. robustus should be included within the genus Australopithecus, due to the unknown last common ancestor. The emergence of the robusts could be either a display of divergent or convergent evolution. There is currently no consensus in the scientific community as to whether P. aethiopicus, P. boisei and P. robustus should be placed into a distinct genus, Paranthropus, which is believed to have developed from the ancestral Australopithecus line. Up until the last half-decade, the majority of the scientific community included all the species of both Australopithecus and Paranthropus in a single genus. Currently, both taxonomic systems are used and accepted in the scientific community. On Wikipedia, the genus Paranthropus is used for all articles which mention the species P. aethiopicus, P. boisei and P. robustus. Species †A. afarensis (Lucy) †A. africanus †A. anamensis †A. bahrelghazali †A. garhi Formerly Australopithecus, now Paranthropus † † † For the song Australopithecus by Modest Mouse, see Sad Sappy Sucker. ...

Occurrence

For the most part the Australopithecus species A. afarensis, A. africanus, and A. anamensis either disappeared from the fossil record before the appearance of early humans or seem to have been the ancestors of Homo habilis, yet P. boisei and P. aethiopicus continued to evolve along a separate path distinct and unrelated to early humans. Paranthropus shared the earth with some early examples of the Homo genus, such as H. habilis, H. ergaster, and possibly even H. erectus. Australopithecus afarensis and A. anamensis had, for the most part, disappeared by this time. There were also significant morphological differences between Australopithecus and Paranthropus, although the differences were found on the cranial remains. The postcranial remains were still very similar. Paranthropus was more massively built, specialized, and tended to sport gorilla-like sagittal crests on the cranium upon which massive jaws were anchored. It seemed to be evolving away from human-likeness, not toward or preceding it. The contrast between Paranthropus and Homo was even greater. Binomial name Johanson & White, 1978 Australopithecus afarensis is an extinct hominid which lived between 3. ... Binomial name Dart, 1925 Australopithecus africanus was an early hominid, an australopithecine, who lived between 2-3 million years ago in the Pliocene. ... Binomial name †Australopithecus anamensis Leakey et al, 1995 Australopithecus anamensis is a fossil species of Australopithecus. ... Binomial name †Homo ergaster Groves & Mazak, 1975 Homo ergaster (working man) is an extinct hominid species (or subspecies, according to some authorities) which lived throughout eastern and southern Africa between 1. ... Binomial name (Dubois, 1892) Synonyms † Pithecanthropus erectus † Sinanthropus pekinensis † Javanthropus soloensis † Meganthropus paleojavanicus Homo erectus (Latin: upright man) is an extinct species of the genus Homo. ... Type species Troglodytes gorilla Savage, 1847 distribution of Gorilla Species Gorilla gorilla Gorilla beringei The gorilla, the largest of the living primates, is a ground-dwelling omnivore that inhabits the forests of Africa. ... Canine skull showing sagittal crest A sagittal crest is a ridge of bone running lengthwise along the midline of the top of the skull (at the sagittal suture) of many mammalian and reptilian skulls, among others. ...

Intelligence

Species of Paranthropus had smaller braincases than Homo, yet they had significantly larger braincases than Australopithecus. There is evidence that some species of Paranthropus were using tools similar to that used in the Lower Paleolithic era, known as the Oldowan technology, though they were not quite as elaborate as those used by Homo habilis. Most Paranthropus specia seem almost certainly to have not used language or to have controlled fire.^[1] A modern hammer is directly descended from ancient hand tools A tool or device is a piece of equipment which typically provides a mechanical advantage in accomplishing a physical task, or provides an ability that is not naturally available to the user of a tool. ... The Lower Paleolithic (or Lower Palaeolithic) is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. ... An era is a long period of time with different technical and colloquial meanings, and usages in language. ... Oldowan is an anthropological designation for an industry of stone tools used by prehistoric hominids in the very early Paleolithic. ... For other uses, see Fire (disambiguation). ...

Discovery

A partial cranium and mandible of Paranthropus robustus was discovered in 1938 by a schoolboy, Gert Terblanche, at Kromdraai B (70 km south west of Pretoria) in South Africa. It was described as a new genus and species by Robert Broom of the Transvaal Museum. The site has been excavated since 1993 by Francis Thackeray of the Transvaal Museum. A date of at least 1.95 million years has been obtained for Kromdraai B. Kromdraai is a fossil-bearing breccia filled cave located about 2km east of the well known South African hominid-bearing site of Sterkfontein and about 45km Northwest of the City of Johannesburg, South Africa. ...

Paranthropus boisei was discovered by Mary Leakey on July 17, 1959, at the FLK Bed I site of Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania (specimen OH5).^[2] Mary was working alone, as Louis was ill in camp. She rushed back to camp and at the news Louis made a remarkable recovery. They refrained from excavating until Des Bartlett had photographed the site. Mary Leakey (February 6, 1913 – December 9, 1996) was a British archaeologist, who, along with others, discovered the first skull of a fossil ape on Rusinga Island and also a noted robust Australopithecine called Zinjanthropus at Olduvai. ... Olduvai Gorge, February 2006 Olduvai Gorge from space Topography of Olduvai Gorge The Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge is commonly referred to as The Cradle of Mankind. ...

In his notes Louis recorded a first name, Titanohomo mirabilis, reflecting an initial impression of close human affinity. Louis and Mary began to call it "Dear Boy". Recovery was halted on August 7. Dear Boy was in context with Olduwan tools and animal bones.

The fossil was published in Nature dated August 15, 1959, but due to a strike of the printers the issue was not released until September. In it Louis placed the fossil in Broom's Australopithecinae family, creating a new genus for it, Zinjanthropus, species boisei. "Zinj" is an ancient Arabic word for the coast of East Africa and "boisei" referred to Charles Boise, an anthropological benefactor of the Leakeys. Louis based his classification on twenty differences from Australopithecus. Image:Broom R.jpg Robert Broom Prof. ... Species †A. afarensis (Lucy) †A. africanus †A. anamensis †A. bahrelghazali †A. garhi Formerly Australopithecus, now Paranthropus † † † For the song Australopithecus by Modest Mouse, see Sad Sappy Sucker. ...

Broom had died in 1951 but Dart was still living. He is said to have wept for joy on Louis' behalf on being personally shown Zinj, which Louis and Mary carried around in a tin (later a box). Louis had considered Broom's Paranthropus genus, but rejected it because he believed Zinj was in the Homo ancestral stock but Paranthropus was not. He relied heavily on the larger size of Zinj's canines. Raymond Dart, holding the Taung Child skull Raymond Dart (February 4, 1893–22 November 1988) was an Australian anatomist and anthropologist best known for his discovery in 1924 of a fossil of Australopithecus at Taung in Northwestern South Africa. ...

At that time palaeoanthropology was in an overall mood to lump and was preaching against splitting. Consequently, the presentation of Zinj during the Fourth Pan-African Congress of Prehistorians in July in the then Belgian Congo, at which Louis was forced to read the delayed Nature article, nearly came to grief for Louis over the creation of a new genus. Dart rescued him with the now famous joke, "... what would have happened if Mrs. Ples had met Dear Boy one dark night." Motto: Travail et Progres (Work and Progress) The Belgian Congo Capital Léopoldville/Leopoldstad Political structure Colony Governor  - 1908-1910 Baron Wahis  - 1946-1951 Eugène Jacques Pierre Louis Jungers  - 1958-1960 Henri Arthur Adolf Marie Christopher Cornelis History  - Established 15 November, 1908  - Congolese independence 30 June, 1960 The Belgian...

The battle of the name raged on for many years and drove a wedge between Louis and LeGros Clark, Sir Wilfrid from 1955, who took the Paranthropus view. On the other hand it brought the Leakeys and Dr. Melville Bell Grosvenor of the National Geographic Society together. The Leakeys became international figures and had no trouble finding funds from then on. The Zinj question ultimately became part of the Australopithecus/Paranthropus question (which only applied to the robust Australopithecines). Sir Wilfrid Edward Le Gros Clark (1895-1971) was an English anatomist and surgeon, today best remembered for his contribution to the study of human evolution. ... Melville Bell Grosvenor was the president of the National Geographic Society and editor of National Geographic Magazine from 1957 to 1969. ... This article is about the organization. ...

See also

• Cranial capacity

Cranial capacity is a measure of the volume of the interior of the cranium (also called the braincase or brainpan) of those animals who have both a brain and a cranium. ...

Footnotes

1. ^ There is equivocal, though difficult to refute, evidence that some late representatives of Paranthropus robustus were using some more elaborate tools and even using fire. The evidence comes from Swartkrans, South Africa and is probably the second oldest evidence of fire. In any case, it can be fairly surmised that the controlled use of fire was atypical of P. robustus and very little of what is known of the hominid's behavior based on its anatomy and its use of tools supports the idea that such use would be widespread.
2. ^ Virginia Morell dedicates at least a chapter on Zinj in Ancestral Passions, Copyright 1995. She accepts the genus Australopithecus prevalent at the time for the robust australopithecines, presented in this article as Paranthropus.

References

• Paranthropus robustus from The Human Origins Program at the Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution Building or Castle on the National Mall serves as the Institutions headquarters. ...

External links

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of

Introduction to Paleoanthropology

• Hominidae. Mikko's Phylogeny Archive.
• Early Human Phylogeny. Smithsonian Institution.
• Paranthropus. Human Evolution—A Look At Our Ancestors. Humboldt State University.
• (2004-02-14) "What Killed Paranthropus?" (Abstract). New Scientist (2434).