Australopithecines
Australopithecines were diverse early hominins that lived mainly in eastern and southern Africa. They were habitually bipedal but retained relatively small brains and several adaptations for climbing. Their diets were varied (fruits, leaves, seeds; maybe nuts and grasses), and some may have used simple stone tools, although the earliest secure evidence for stone-tool manufacture comes later.
Timeline
- ~3.9 million-2.9 million years ago: Australopithecus afarensis lives in eastern Africa; habitually bipedal while retaining climbing adaptations.
- ~3.2 million years ago: Lucy (~40% complete A. afarensis skeleton) lives in Ethiopia; her pelvis and leg bones provide strong evidence for habitual bipedalism.
- ~3.5 million years ago: Footprints at Laetoli, Tanzania, preserve evidence of hominins walking upright (probably A. afarensis).
- ~3.3 million-2.1 million years ago: Australopithecus africanus lives in southern Africa; more human-like skull and dentition but retains a small brain and ape-like features.
- ~2.6 million years ago: The earliest widely accepted stone tools appear in East Africa (probably by early Homo members; direct association with australopithecines uncertain).
- ~1.98 million-1.78 million years ago: Australopithecus sediba lives in South Africa; combines australopithecine and human-like features, but its position as an Homo ancestor is debated.
Happening elsewhere at the time
Human Origins series
- Primates
- Early hominins
- Australopithecines
- Early Homo
- Neanderthals and other Homo
- Homo sapiens