The Taung Child fossil All Australopithecus fossils have been
unearthed in the southern part of the African continent. The
reason why this species has been given the name
Australopithecus, meaning "South African ape," is that these
animals have features very similar to those of present-day apes.
The first fossils claimed to belong to this species were found
in a coal mine in the Taung region of South Africa in 1924. The
first fossil described as Australopithecus consisted of a young
ape's face and lower jaw bones, and a skull of 410 cubic
centimeters in volume. The discoverers of the fossil took it to
Raymond Dart, an anthropologist. Based on the skull's fine
structure and thinking that its teeth resembled human teeth, Dr.
Dart suggested that the fossil belonged to a hominid. Shortly
afterwards, he published an article in Nature magazine titled
"Australopithecus: Ape-Man in South Africa." Scientists who said
that the fossil actually belonged to a chimpanzee did not take
Dart seriously. Yet he persisted with t