Australopithecus

Australopithecus is an extinct genus of hominins. From paleontological and archaeological evidence, the Australopithecus genus apparently evolved in eastern Africa around 4 million years ago before spreading throughout the continent and eventually becoming extinct somewhat after two million years ago. During that time, a number of australopithecine species emerged, including Australopithecus afarensis, A. africanus, A. anamensis, A. bahrelghazali, A. deyiremeda, A. garhi, and A. sediba.

For some hominid species of this time, such as A. robustus and A. boisei, some debate exists whether they constitute members of the same genus. If so, they would be considered 'robust australopiths', while the others would be 'gracile australopiths'. However, if these species do constitute their own genus, they may be given their own name, Paranthropus.

Australopithecus species played a significant part in human evolution, the genus Homo being derived from Australopithecus at some time after three million years ago. Among other things, they were the first hominids to show the presence of a gene that causes increased length and ability of neurons in the brain, the duplicated SRGAP2 gene. One of the australopith species eventually became the Homo genus in Africa around two million years ago, and eventually modern humans, H. sapiens sapiens.