What is Australopithecus?
{{italictitle}} {{Taxobox | colour = rgb(220,220,183) | name = ''Australopithecus'' | fossil_range = [[Pliocene]] | image = Australopithecusafarensis reconstruction.jpg | image_width = 250px | image_caption = ''[[Australopithecus afarensis]]'' | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]] | classis = [[Mammal]]ia | ordo = [[Primates]] | familia = [[Hominidae]] | genus = '''''Australopithecus''''' | genus_authority = [[Raymond Dart|R.A. Dart]], 1925 | subdivision_ranks = [[Species]] | subdivision = * †''[[Australopithecus afarensis|A. afarensis]]'' * †''[[Australopithecus africanus|A. africanus]]'' * †''[[Australopithecus anamensis|A. anamensis]]'' * †''[[Australopithecus bahrelghazali|A. bahrelghazali]]'' * †''[[Australopithecus garhi|A. garhi]]'' }} [[File:Map of the fossil sites of the early hominids (4.4-1M BP).svg|thumb|right|Map of the fossil sites of the early Australopithecines in Africa]] '''''Australopithecus'''''<ref>[[Latin language|Latin]] ''australis'' = 'of the south', [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] ''pithekos'' = 'ape'</ref> is a [[genus]] of [[extinct]] [[hominid]]s closely related to [[human]]s. The first ''Australopithecus'' described was the [[Taung Child]], discovered by [[Raymond Dart]], and described in 1925. Their remains are mostly found in [[East Africa]], and the first [[fossil]] is from 3.9 [[million]] years ago (mya). The split from other apes would have taken place earlier, perhaps about 5 mya. It is widely believed that the group of which they are part gave rise to the genus ''[[Homo]]'', and hence to human beings.<ref>Leakey, Richard 1994. ''The origin of humankind''. New York: BasicBooks. {{ISBN|0465031358}}</ref> The genus ''Australopithecus'' originally included two rather different forms. One form was lightweight: the '''gracile [[australopithecine]]s'''. The other form was bulkier, the '''[[paranthropus|robust australopithecines]]'''. It is still under discussion whether they should be put in separate [[genera]]. Here we treat the gracile forms; the robust forms are