The Handyman

The australopithecines were members of the genus Australopithecus, which means "Southern Ape".

According to differences in the shape of the creatures' jaws and teeth and the size of their brains, scientists divided the genus into four species:

1) A. afarensis
2) A. africanus
3) A. robustus
4) A. boisei
1) Australopithecus afarensis
This the earliest species of Australopithecus, and lived in eastern Africa between about 4 million and 3 million years ago. Its brain was about the same size as
Australopithecine: courtesy of growing Up with Science, published by H. S. Stuttman, inc

the brains of chimpanzees today. On average, afarensis was about 1-1,3m tall. He had an ape-like face, with a low forehead, brow bridge, flat nose, no chin and jutting jaws with massive back teeth.His front teeth were often chipped, perhaps because he used them as gripping tools. Afarensis had a slightly bow legged walk, and his somewhat chimpanzee-like hips and curved toe and finger bones suggest he spenmuch time in trees, perhaps sleeping high among the branches, away from predators. Afarensis and his family probably foraged for plant foods including tough, hard, or fibrous fruits and seeds, very much like apes today.

(1) Australopithecus africanus

Australopithecus africanusmeans "southern ape of Africa" lived perhaps from 3 million to 1 million years ago, and probably evolved from A. afarensis. A small, slight, ape-like creature, africanus stood as high as a small African bushman - about 1m-1,3m tall, and weighed about 20-40kg. He had a rounder skull and slightly larger brain A. afarensis, but was otherwise not much different. The lower face jutted forward, but the face and jaws were deeper and shorter than apes. For relative brain-body size, africanus ranks midway between modern apes and modern man. Tooth and jaw design suggest he chewed plant foods, but might also have scavenged meat from the remains of carnivores' kills. Most fossils of this species came from the Sterkfontein Caves in South Africa, but other findings show that he also lived in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.

(1) Australopithecus robustus

This "robust southern ape" was altogether larger and more strongly built than A. africanus. His average height was about 1,6m tall, weighing about 50-70kg. Compared with africanus he had a larger, flatter skull, with a brain capacity of about 500cc, and his face was considerably large and broad in relation to his braincase. Massive cheek teeth and small front teeth show that robustus was a herbivore. Robustus seemingly evolved by 2,5 million years ago, perhaps from afarensis or africanus. All undisputed fossils of robustus come from South African caves, where they may have been dragged or dropped by carnivores.

(1) Australopithecus boisei

This ape was named by the Leakeys, after a British businessman, Charles Boise, who helped fund fossil hunts that led to its discovery in East Africa in 1959. His former name, zinjanthropus, means "East Africa man". He inhabited that region from about 2,5 million to 1 million years ago. Boisei resembled a more massive version of A. robustus, from which it probably evolved. His average height was about 1,6m-1,78m, with a weight of about 60-80kg. Like a gorilla's, boisei's skull was large, with brow ridges, and a central crest for anchoring immense jaw muscles. His face, however, was flatter, and the canine teeth were small, although immense molars and premolars earned him the nickname "Nutcracker Man". Boisei seems to have chewed large quantities of leaves, a low-grade source of nourishment. Certain findings suggest that boisei might have made or used stone tools.