Articles on Australopithecus

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Children gather around a fossil skull at a South African museum. EPA/Jon Hrusa

June 8, 2017

The perversion of paleontology by apartheid’s advocates still lingers

Hlonipha Mokoena, University of the Witwatersrand

As an intellectual history of the disciplines of paleontology and paleoanthropology, Kuljan’s book is especially adept at narrating the interwoven connections between science and power.

Upper teeth of a Neanderthal who lived about 40,000 years ago. Debbie Guatelli-Steinberg

March 3, 2017

Tooth be told: Millions of years of evolutionary history mark those molars

Debbie Guatelli-Steinberg, The Ohio State University

Anthropologists gather clues about how our ancient ancestors lived from their teeth. What will future anthropologists make of us based on the fossilized pearly whites we'll leave behind?

A 3D model of the long-lost Scalopocynodon gracilis skull. Evolutionary Studies Unit, Wits University

September 26, 2016

3D technology brings a lost mammalian ancestor back to life

Julien Benoit, University of the Witwatersrand and Sandra Jasinoski, University of the Witwatersrand

An old technique to explore the inside of fossils unfortunately ended up destroying some unique specimens. New technology has been used to reconstruct one such fossil.

The earliest hominin cancer. Patrick Randolph-Quinney (University of Central Lancashire/University of the Witwatersrand)

September 12, 2016

Fossil evidence reveals that cancer in humans goes back 1.7 million years

Patrick Randolph-Quinney, University of Central Lancashire and Edward John Odes, University of the Witwatersrand

Cancer is not the modern disease many believe it to be. New fossil evidence from two South African caves suggests that its origins lie deep in prehistory.

Australopithecus afarensis, the ultimate human ancestor. wikimedia

June 14, 2016

No giant leap for mankind: why we’ve been looking at human evolution in the wrong way

Robert Foley, University of Cambridge

Why being human can't be traced back to hunting, fire or any other single event.

Professor Lee Berger from the University of the Witwatersrand holding the skull of Homo Naledi. EPA/Shiraaz Mohamed

November 25, 2015

Homo naledi may be two million years old (give or take)

Francis Thackeray, University of the Witwatersrand

The big question being asked is: where does Homo naledi fit in the evolutionary tree? Assessing the similarity or dissimilarity between fossil skulls has provided a possible clue to the answer.

3D virtual reconstruction of two-million-year-old ear. Rolf Quam

September 25, 2015

Testing ancient human hearing via fossilized ear bones

Rolf Quam, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Beyond the cool factor of figuring out hominin hearing capacities two million years ago, these findings could help answer the tantalizing question of when did human vocalized language first emerge.

Scientists get their teeth into A. deyiremeda fossils. Credit: Laura Dempsey

May 27, 2015

Found: our 3m-year-old forebear who lived alongside ‘Lucy’

John McNabb, University of Southampton

A completely new human ancestor dating back to 3.5– 3.3 million years ago has been discovered.

Top contributors

Robert Foley
Professor of Human Evolution, University of Cambridge
John McNabb
Senior Lecturer in Palaeolithic Archaeology, University of Southampton
Francis Thackeray
Phillip Tobias Chair in Palaeoanthropology, Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand
Rolf Quam
Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Patrick Randolph-Quinney
Senior Lecturer in Biological and Forensic Anthropology, University of Central Lancashire
Julien Benoit
Postdoc in Vertebrate Palaeontology, University of the Witwatersrand
Edward John Odes
PhD Candidate in Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand
Sandra Jasinoski
Honorary Research Fellow, University of the Witwatersrand
Hlonipha Mokoena
Associate Professor at the Wits Institute for Social & Economic Research, University of the Witwatersrand
Debbie Guatelli-Steinberg
Professor of Anthropology, The Ohio State University