---
lang: en
type: Hominin
record_kind: entity-profile
title: Australopithecus africanus
description: "Australopithecus africanus is an extinct species of gracile australopithecine that lived in Southern Africa during the Pliocene epoch. Known from key fossils like the 'Taung Child' and 'Mrs. Ples', it exhibited a mixture of ape-like and human-like features, including clear evidence for bipedalism combined with adaptations for climbing."
llms_summary: "Australopithecus africanus. (Krugersdorp, Gauteng, South Africa). Hominin. Associated Tools None. Chronological Range 3.3 Mya. Cranial Capacity 428 cc. Estimated Stature 1.1 m. Evolutionary Group Australopith. Extinction Context Extinction around 2.1 Mya, likely due to climate change and competition from early Homo and Paranthropus.  Type Specimen Taung Child. Year Discovered 1924. Paleoanthropology. Australopithecus africanus is an extinct species of gracile australopithecine that lived in Southern Africa during the Pliocene epoch. Known from key fossils like the 'Taung Child' and 'Mrs. Ples', it exhibited a mixture of ape-like and human-like features, including clear evidence for bipedalism combined with adaptations for climbing.  canonical profile on Chrisyst Datasets"
canonical: "https://datasets.chrisyst.com/australopithecus-africanus/index.md"
og_image: "https://datasets.chrisyst.com/images/australopithecus-africanus.webp"
primary_image: /images/australopithecus-africanus.webp
hvce_version: 1
site: chrisyst-datasets
slug: australopithecus-africanus
record_kind: entity-profile
content_sha256: 8e184c874aeec2f7d46affdea75c1c8b33523b5761d487b23c616bb3ffd9f2e2
indexed_at: "2026-07-16T13:15:13.715Z"
license: citation-free
entities:
  -
    role: subject
    slug: australopithecus-africanus
    name: Australopithecus africanus
    type: Hominin
    profile_url: "https://datasets.chrisyst.com/australopithecus-africanus/index.md"
    same_as:
      - "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192544"
---
# Australopithecus africanus

Australopithecus africanus is an extinct species of gracile australopithecine that lived in Southern Africa during the Pliocene epoch. Known from key fossils like the 'Taung Child' and 'Mrs. Ples', it exhibited a mixture of ape-like and human-like features, including clear evidence for bipedalism combined with adaptations for climbing.

## Record

- **Title**: [Australopithecus africanus](https://datasets.chrisyst.com/australopithecus-africanus/index.md)
- **Geo target**: Krugersdorp, Gauteng, South Africa
- **Website**: https://www.maropeng.co.za/content/page/sterkfontein-caves
- **Phone**: +27 14 577 9000
- **Email**: info@maropeng.co.za
- **Address**: R563 Hekpoort Road, Hekpoort, Gauteng, 1790, South Africa
- **Coordinates**: -26.015, 27.769

### Summary

Australopithecus africanus is an extinct species of gracile australopithecine that lived in Southern Africa during the Pliocene epoch. Known from key fossils like the 'Taung Child' and 'Mrs. Ples', it exhibited a mixture of ape-like and human-like features, including clear evidence for bipedalism combined with adaptations for climbing.

### Description

## Overview
Australopithecus africanus represents a critical chapter in human evolution, first brought to light by Raymond Dart's 1924 discovery of the "Taung Child" skull in South Africa. This species, a gracile australopithecine, is primarily known from cave deposits at Sterkfontein, Makapansgat, and Taung. Morphologically, A. africanus presents a mosaic of primitive and derived traits. It possessed a more globular cranium and smaller, less-projecting canines compared to its East African contemporary, A. afarensis, suggesting a slight shift in diet or social structure. Despite these more human-like cranial features, its postcranial skeleton, including long arms and curved finger bones, indicates significant arboreal capabilities, suggesting a life spent both in trees and on the ground. Evidence for bipedalism is robust, confirmed by the anteriorly positioned foramen magnum and the structure of the pelvis and lower limbs.

Living between approximately 3.3 and 2.1 million years ago, A. africanus inhabited a mosaic of woodland and savanna environments. Isotopic analysis of tooth enamel reveals a highly varied diet, more diverse than many other early hominins, incorporating C3 resources like fruits and leaves as well as C4 resources such as grasses and sedges. This dietary flexibility may have been a key adaptation to its changing environment. No stone tools have been definitively associated with A. africanus, placing it behaviorally before the advent of Oldowan technology. Its evolutionary position remains debated; it is considered either a direct ancestor to the genus Homo or a side branch that ultimately went extinct without issue, possibly due to increasing climatic instability and competition from emerging Paranthropus and early Homo species.

### Attributes

- **Associated Tools**: None
- **Chronological Range**: 3.3 Mya
- **Cranial Capacity**: 428 cc _(quality 472)_
- **Estimated Stature**: 1.1 m _(quality 1)_
- **Evolutionary Group**: Australopith
- **Extinction Context**: Extinction around 2.1 Mya, likely due to climate change and competition from early Homo and Paranthropus.
- **Type Specimen**: Taung Child
- **Year Discovered**: 1924 _(quality 1924)_