The term "Australopithecine" consists of two words, Latin and Greek. Literally translated, it means "southern monkey". There is a possibility that these ancient extinct primates were the ancestors of humans, since in their anatomical structure they show some resemblance to humans.
Groups
The Australopithecus family has rather vague boundaries. Many fossil primates with signs of relatively high development can be attributed to it. Evolutionary progress is determined on the basis of two simple criteria: the ability to walk upright and the presence of weak jaws. The brain size of Australopithecus is of some interest, but is not one of the main signs of belonging to this family. These hominids are divided into three groups: early, gracile (slender, miniature) and massive. The last Australopithecus became extinct about a million years ago.
Research History
The appearance and main characteristics of fossil primates, scientists are forcedrestored, relying only on fragmentary and few archaeological finds. Based on fragments of skulls and bones, they determine how much brain Australopithecus had in life and what level of intelligence it possessed.
The discovery of this extinct species is associated with the name of the Australian scientist Raymond Dart. At the beginning of the 20th century, he conducted the first studies of the fossilized remains of an ancient primate found in Africa. Information about this discovery was published in Nature magazine and caused heated discussions, because it did not correspond to the then ideas about the evolutionary process. Subsequently, a number of remains of extinct primates were discovered on the African continent.
Archaeological finds
The gracile group has a number of similarities with modern apes and humans. It was widespread in East and North Africa approximately three and a half million years ago. Some of the earliest evidence for the existence of erect-walking hominins was discovered by scientists at excavations in Tanzania. Fossilized footprints were found there, largely similar to the footprints of modern humans. Their age is estimated at three million six hundred thousand years.
Scientists have come to the conclusion that these footprints belong to Australopithecus, since this is the only known group of anthropoid that existed in this region in this era. The most famous find is the skeletal parts of a female named "Lucy". Her age isthree million two hundred thousand years. The skeleton is about 40 percent preserved, which is considered a great success from the point of view of anthropologists.
Controversial ancient species
There are also much older fossils, but their classification causes controversy among specialists. Elements of the skull of an ancient hominid that lived about seven million years ago have been discovered in Central Africa. Their characteristics allow this creature to be related to chimpanzees and humans. However, the lack of information does not allow scientists to come to an unambiguous conclusion.
Baby from Taung
Australopithecine africanus, whose brain volume was relatively large, was considered as a possible ancestor of Homo erectus (Homo erectus). This species lived mainly in limestone caves. In 1924, in the Taung quarry, located in the Republic of South Africa, archaeologists found a skull that belonged to a six-year-old child. Scientists at the University of Johannesburg first noticed that this species of Australopithecus has a brain volume of 520 cubic centimeters, which is slightly larger than that of modern chimpanzees. The structure of the skull and teeth was uncharacteristic for monkeys. Developed temporal, occipital and parietal lobes testified to the ability to complex behavior.
Precursors
The remains of an ancient hominid, from which, in all likelihood, later species originatedanthropoid, have been discovered during archaeological excavations in Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania. In accordance with the geographical name of the area in which the researchers found the first specimens, he received the name "Australopithecus of Africa".
The brain volume of this hominid was relatively small, only 420 cubic centimeters. According to this indicator, he almost did not differ from modern chimpanzees. Scientists believe that this species was upright, but spent much of its time in trees, as evidenced by the anatomical structure of the arms and shoulders, well adapted to grasping branches. The growth of this hominid was no more than one and a half meters. The brain size of this species of Australopithecus does not suggest the ability to control speech and complex behavior. These creatures lived approximately four million years ago.
Anatomy
Thermoregulatory model suggests that Australopithecus was completely covered in hair, which brings them closer to modern chimpanzees. These hominids resembled humans in having weak jaws, the absence of large fangs, developed thumbs, and a pelvis and foot structure that facilitated bipedal walking. Australopithecus brain volume was only about 35 percent of the human. This species is characterized by significant sexual dimorphism (difference in size between males and females). In fossil primates, males could be one and a half times larger than females. For comparison, in the average casea modern man is taller and heavier than a woman by only 15 percent. The reasons for such a strong difference between extinct hominids and humans remain unknown.
Intended role in evolution
Australopithecine brain size was about the same as that of modern monkeys. Most researchers agree that ancient primates were no more intelligent than chimpanzees. There is nothing surprising in the fact that they were able to use various objects as improvised tools. Many species of monkeys are also capable of activities such as cracking seashells and nuts with rocks.
An interesting fact is that in the absence of significant intellectual progress, Australopithecus were upright. Genetic studies suggest that this characteristic appeared in the earliest species that lived about six million years ago. Given that all modern apes move on four legs, it is worth recognizing that this feature of ancient primates seems to be a mystery. It is not yet possible to explain what prompted the emergence of bipedalism in that distant era.
The ability of this extinct species to think associatively was extremely limited. The volume of the Australopithecus brain is almost three times smaller than that of modern humans. It is worth noting that the most ancient people practically did not differ from modern ones in terms of the amount of gray matter. This factconfirms the existence of a serious gap in this indicator between humans and fossil primates. Of course, the volume of the Australopithecus brain cannot serve as a sufficient basis for judging its thought processes, but the difference from Homo sapiens is obvious.
To date, there is no clear archaeological evidence of a transitional form from these fossil primates to ancient humans. It is possible that australopithecines represented a parallel, independent branch of evolution and were not the direct ancestors of man. However, they had one unique feature, indicating a close resemblance to humans. This characteristic is not related to the size of the Australopithecus brain in those distant times. A much clearer criterion is the structure of the thumb. In Australopithecus, it was opposed, as in humans. This markedly distinguished the ancient primate from modern apes.
