Reappraising the palaeobiology of australopithecus

ABSTRACT The naming of _Australopithecus africanus_ in 1925, based on the Taung Child, heralded a new era in human evolutionary studies and turned the attention of the then Eurasian-centric

palaeoanthropologists to Africa, albeit with reluctance. Almost one hundred years later, Africa is recognized as the cradle of humanity, where the entire evolutionary history of our lineage

prior to two million years ago took place—after the _Homo–Pan_ split. This Review examines data from diverse sources and offers a revised depiction of the genus and characterizes its role in

human evolution. For a long time, our knowledge of _Australopithecus_ came from both _A. africanus_ and _Australopithecus afarensis_, and the members of this genus were portrayed as bipedal

creatures that did not use stone tools, with a largely chimpanzee-like cranium, a prognathic face and a brain slightly larger than that of chimpanzees. Subsequent field and laboratory

discoveries, however, have altered this portrayal, showing that _Australopithecus_ species were habitual bipeds but also practised arboreality; that they occasionally used stone tools to

supplement their diet with animal resources; and that their infants probably depended on adults to a greater extent than what is seen in apes. The genus gave rise to several taxa, including

_Homo_, but its direct ancestor remains elusive. In sum, _Australopithecus_ had a pivotal bridging role in our evolutionary history owing to its morphological, behavioural and temporal

placement between the earliest archaic putative hominins and later hominins—including the genus _Homo_. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription

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PRECURSORS Article 16 August 2023 MORPHOLOGY OF THE MAXILLA INFORMS ABOUT THE TYPE OF PREDATION STRATEGY IN THE EVOLUTION OF ABELISAURIDAE (DINOSAURIA: THEROPODA) Article Open access 06

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Google Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank my postdoctoral advisor B. Kimbel and my PhD co-advisor Y. Coppens for their mentorship; B. Wood, R. Bobe, F. Spoor, J. Braga, D.

Reed and D. Jablonski for feedback on earlier versions of this paper or for discussions; Y. Haile-Selassie, F. Spoor and F. McGechie for supplying images; and R. Van Sessen for help with

the figures and formatting. I am grateful to all of the field and laboratory researchers who made the knowledge included in this Review available. I thank M. and W. Hearst for supporting my

research activities that have contributed towards and inspired the writing of this paper. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago,

Chicago, IL, USA Zeresenay Alemseged Authors * Zeresenay Alemseged View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence

to Zeresenay Alemseged. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The author declares no competing interests. PEER REVIEW PEER REVIEW INFORMATION _Nature_ thanks Jeremy DeSilva and the other,

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agreement and applicable law. Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Alemseged, Z. Reappraising the palaeobiology of _Australopithecus_. _Nature_ 617, 45–54 (2023).

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