Latest Australopithecus Stories

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Four new studies have taken a new look at the diets of our ancestors and have found their behavior was a “game changer” for early humans some 3.5 million years ago. An ape-like diet that included grasses and sedges paved the way for a diet rich in grains, meats and dairy from grazing animals. In the first of the four studies, researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder conducted high-tech tests on tooth enamel of...

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online One of the largest studies on some of the most complete remains of early human ancestors has culminated in a comprehensive look into how an early hominid (Australopithecus sediba) moved and chewed. The study, collaborated on by an international team of scientists and published in six papers in the journal Science, details not only early traits but also describes notable features that set it apart from modern humans. The research...

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, April 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Close examination of the lower jawbone, teeth and skeleton of the hominid species Australopithecus sediba proves conclusively that it is uniquely different from a closely related species, Australopithecus africanus, according to a series of papers authored by a scientific team that includes several Texas A&M University researchers. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120502/DC99584LOGO) Darryl de Ruiter,...

Researchers from Wits University, the University of Johannesburg and international scientists announced on Tuesday, 22 January 2012, the discovery of a two million year old fossil fox at the now renowned archaeological site of Malapa in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. In an article published in the prestigious journal Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa, the researchers describe the previously unknown species of fox named Vulpes Skinneri - named in honor of the...

April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Many researchers believe that one of the pivotal events in becoming human was the development of terrestrial bipedalism, or the ability to walk on two legs. Much has been made of our ancestors "coming down out of the trees." After all, the majority of our living primate relatives – for example, the great apes – still spend a great deal of their time in trees. In the primate family, humans are the only branch devoted to the ground,...

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Our ancestors about 3.5 million years ago had a diet that mainly consisted of tropical grasses and sedges, according to a new study. Scientists reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that they extracted information from the fossilized teeth of three Australopithecus bahrelghazali individuals, which were the first early hominins excavated at two sites in Africa. "We found evidence suggesting that early...

April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Scientists have known that Australopithecus afarensis – the species of the well-known Lucy specimen – was an upright walking species, but they debate whether or not A. afarensis spent much of its time in trees. A comprehensive answer to this question has been unavailable because a complete set of A. afarensis shoulder blades has never been available for study. Professor David Green of Midwestern University and Zeresenay...

April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online An international team of scientists has reconstructed the dietary preferences of 3 groups of hominins found in South Africa. The paper, “Evidence for diet but not landscape use in South African early hominins," is a joint effort between the Ecole Normale Supérieure, the Université de Toulouse Paul Sabatier, and the University of the Witwatersrand and has been selected for Advanced Online Publication in the journal Nature. The...

[ Watch the Video ] redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online An international team of scientists has revealed that the ancestors of modern humans had an unusual diet -- one which may have contributed to their ultimate downfall, according to various reports published Wednesday. According to Thomas H. Maugh II of the Los Angeles Times, researchers led by the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany have discovered that Australopithecus...

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, June 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --Australopithecus sediba, believed to be an early relative of modern-day humans, enjoyed a diet of leaves, fruits, nuts, and bark, which meant they probably lived in a more wooded environment than is generally thought, a surprising find published in the current issue of Nature magazine by an international team of researchers that includes a Texas A&M University anthropologist. (Logo:...