Question

Write any four features of Australopithecus man.

Answer 1

Hint: Australopithecus were one of the earliest ancestors of humans, from which the genus Homo is considered to be descended. They are also commonly known as the best - known early human species.

Complete answer:
Before we look into the features, let's have a look at the origin and development of Australopithecus man. These ancestors originated in the East African grasslands and thrived between 4.4 million years ago to 1.4 million years ago. Australopithecus is considered to be an important intermediate link between apes and man.

Some of the physical features of Australopithecus are:
- Australopithecus were bipedal, which means that they walked using two legs.
- They had a small brain and a long jaw.
- Average cranial capacity of Australopithecus was 440 cc and it comprised 1.3% of their body weight.
- Compared to the males, the females were shorter, which indicated sexual dimorphism.

Additional information:
Australopithecus were short in height with long arms and thick waistlines. The misconception of bipedalism linked with large brain size was corrected by the discovery of Australopithecus, since they had smaller brain size. Also, they had 32 teeth just like modern humans. They lived in small social groups containing both male and female.
They used stone weapons, but their food mainly consisted of:
- Fruits
- Tubers
- Small lizards and animals

Note: Lucy is an Australopithecus skeleton discovered in Ethiopia, which dated 3.2 million years. By the discovery of Lucy, it was proved that Australopithecus were early humans, not just apes.