Australopithecus Africanus - Morphology and Interpretations

Morphology and Interpretations

Like Au. afarensis, Au. africanus the South African counterpart was generally similar in many traits, a bipedal hominid with arms slightly larger than the legs (a physical trait also found in chimpanzees). Despite its slightly more human-like cranial features, seen for example in the crania Mrs. Ples and STS 71, other more primitive features including ape-like curved fingers for tree climbing are also present.

Due to other more primitive features visible on Au. africanus, some researchers believe the hominin, instead of being a direct ancestor of more modern hominins, evolved into Paranthropus. One robust australopithecine seen as a descendent of Au. africanus is Paranthropus robustus. Both P. robustus and Au. africanus crania seem very alike despite the more heavily built features of P. robustus that are adaptations for heavy chewing like a gorilla. Au. africanus, on the other hand, had a cranium which quite closely resembled that of a chimp, yet both their brains measure about 400 cc to 500 cc and probably had an ape-like intelligence. Au. africanus had a pelvis that was built for slightly better bipedalism than that of Au. afarensis.