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Australopithecus

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“ These are Australopithecus, go back 200,000 generations and your relatives would look something like this. „
— Allen Johnson, about Australopithecus
in The Walking Ape

Australopithecus (name meaning "Southern Ape") is a genus of a bidepal prehistoric primate that originated during the Late Pliocene epoch in what is now Africa. Directly ancestral to modern Humans, it has been described as the missing link between humans and primates.

In the Series 3 episode "The Walking Ape", a group of Australopithecus afarensis led by a male named Hercules were brought to the park from Late Pliocene Africa 3.2 million years ago. They reside in the Ape-Man Jungle Enclosure with other ape ancestors of humans. Additionally a female named Lucy followed the team through the portal while looking for a new group to join. A large group of Australopithecus anamensis chased the team through the portal.

In the Series 3 episode "The Walking Ape II: Blood Brothers", a group of Australopithecus africanus were brought to the park from Early Pleistocene Africa 2 million years ago.

Facts[]

Era & Discovery[]

Australopithecus lived in Africa during the Late Pliocene around 3.2 million years ago. They lived with other animals such as Dinofelis, Crocodylus, Ancylotherium, and even Deinotherium. Australopithecus were among the earliest ancestors of humans. Apes had a long road to travel yet. Outwardly they were almost human, but their brains were no bigger than a chimpanzee's. It would be at least another 2 million years before any ape had a decent conversation.

The first Australopithecus fossils were discovered in South Africa in 1924, by Australian anthropologist Raymond Dart who dubbed it the Taung Child. Five decades later, a full skeleton was discovered in Ethiopia in 1974 by American paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson and dubs the specimen Lucy.

Australopithecus skeleton

Australopithecus skeleton

Physical Attributes[]

Australopithecus stood 1.4 meters tall and weighed 70 pounds, which mades them ⅓ shorter than us.

Australopithecus was a type of ape that clearly showed the first signs of becoming more human. When made these apes closer to us than other apes was not their brains which were ⅓ of the size no bigger than a Chimpanzee's, it's not their skin which was hairy, it's something Australopithecus did that other apes just didn't, something that eventually led these apes to be described as a missing link. Australopithecus stood and walked upright on two legs. Females were just 2/3 of the size of the males, the dominant male would need their support if they were going to stay in charge of the groups they lived in. Australopithecus fights were less violent than other primates.

Baboons, for example have large canines and bite each other, while Australopithecus had small canines and their fights were mostly show. Unlike many of the animals that lived in their environment, Australopithecus were comfortable in both the trees and the open spaces. They often shared by the fruit they ate and waterholes they drank from with other animals such as the Ancylotherium. They also had intense fear with some of the other animals such Deinotherium which was the biggest animals in their world. Walking on two legs was efficient way for these apes to travel and gave Australopithecus a higher viewpoint than other apes.

That meant predators were easier to spot, out in the open savannah they had to be especially vigilant. When darkness was around the corner it would be time for them to prepare for evening. Australopithecus slept in trees because it was safer, and would make a new nest every night by folding down a bed of branches. Primates were once all nocturnal creatures, but not anymore. Some had evolved great color vision, allowing them to pick out succulent leaves and fruit, but this had come at the expense of their night vision, which was poor compared to most animals. So for these apes and in the future humans, the night is a time to sleep.

Australopithecus were often prey items for predators such as saber-tooth cats like Dinofelis. Later members of the human family would rise up the food chain to become top predators, but in the Pliocene our relatives were prey. That meant that if people think that walking upright made our ancestors king of the jungle they would be wrong. Aside from walking upright there was really nothing remarkable about these hominids at all, as Australopithecus were subject to the laws of nature as everything else.

Unlike just about every other mammal on Earth, Australopithecus mated face to face. Walking upright had changed the orientation of the pelvis, and as a result, of the female sexual organs too.

When there was no fruit in season, Australopithecus' diet would become more down to Earth as they dug for roots and tubers. Australopithecus were masters of the varied diet. They had a number of adaptations for feeding themselves: hands that became nimble and dextrous since they were no longer used for walking on, thick enamel on their teeth to help them cope with tough and dirty food, and ingenuity. Australopithecus could use basic tools like sticks to dig.

They were not born with this ability. They had to learn it by imitating their elders. These was another very important element of their diet: meat which often Australopithecus scavenged. Meat was only a small part of their diet, but it would become more important in the future for more human-like apes. An increase in meat eating would go hand in hand with an increase in brain size.

Meat contains nutrients vital for big brains and intelligent apes would develop special tools to get meat until eventually they made weapons and wouldn't be scavengers but predators. Like apes of another time, filling up with water was an important mission of the morning for Australopithecus.

Behavior & Traits[]

Australopithecus lived in groups with complex social structures and were also very political animals. These groups were led by the dominant male, but only for as long as females wanted them to be. Like all apes, Australopithecus spent a lot of their time grooming to make new bonds and strengthen old ones which was their equivalent of talking. While males often stayed in within the same group their whole lives, female Australopithecus would often move to a new group when they were old enough to mate which prevented inbreeding. It would be a difficult transition for the newcomer and would take some time to be accepted by the other females of the group. Normally only the dominant male would get access to the females during the mating season.

Journal Entry[]

“ The earliest ancestors of humans, Australopithecus was a type of ape that clearly showed the first signs of becoming more human. What made them close to modern human than other apes was not their brains which were ⅓ of the size, it was not their skin which was hairy. It's something Australopithecus did that other apes didn't, something that led them to be described as a missing link. Australopithecus stood and walked upright on two legs.


However if people think that standing on two legs made Australopithecus king of the jungle, they would be wrong. Aside from walking upright, there was nothing very remarkable about them at all. Like other apes, Australopithecus lived in groups with complex social structures and were very political animals. Australopithecus fights were less violent than other primates, for example baboons have large canines and bite each other when they fight, while Australopithecus had small canines and their fights were mostly show. Unlike many animals that shared their environment, Australopithecus were comfortable in both trees and open spaces.


They shared waterholes and fruit with other animals such as Ancylotherium which were harmless towards Australopithecus. Other animals like Deinotherium were the biggest animals that shared the world with and they avoided them. Walking on two legs was an efficient way for Australopithecus to travel and gave them a higher viewpoint than other apes, that meant predators such as Dinofelis were easier to spot. When dusk came Australopithecus slept in trees because it was safer and made new nests everynight by folding down a bed of branches. Like other apes, they spent a lot their time grooming which was their equivalent of talking.

While male Australopithecus stayed within the same group their whole life, the females moved to new groups when they were old enough to mate which prevented inbreeding. Unlike other animals of which the male half climbs on the backs of the females to mate, Australopithecus mated face-to-face. The reason is that walking upright had changed orientation of the pelvis and as a result of the female sexual organs too. Australopithecus were masters of varied diet, and had a number of adaptions for themselves and that was hands that were nimble and dextrous since they were no longer used for walking on.

They had thick enamel on their teeth to help them cope with tough or dirty food. Australopithecus also had ingenuity and used basic tools like sticks with dig. They weren't born with those abilities and had to learn it by imitating their elders. There was also another important element in Australopithecus' diet and that was meat. Meat was only a small part of their diet, but it became more important for their descendants like Homo Erectus or even Neanderthals.

„
— Allen Johnson, in his journal about Australopithecus

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • The sound effects of Australopithecus are that of monkey and chimpanzee sound effects.
  • Australopithecus are the first prehistoric apes brought to the park.
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