Prehistoric Earth: A Natural History Wiki
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Rebecca, meet Paranthropus boisei.
— Allen Johnson, about Paranthropus
in The Walking Ape

Paranthropus (name meaning "Strongly Built"), originally called Zinjanthropus is a species of ape that lived in Africa. It evolved from Australopithecus and has massive back teeth. They were similar to modern gorillas because of their diet and behavior.

In the Series 3 episode "The Walking Ape", a group of Paranthropus were brought to the park from Early Pleistocene Africa, 2 million years ago. They reside in the Ape-Man Jungle Enclosure.

Facts[]

Era & Discovery[]

Paranthropus lived in African during the Early Pleistocene from 2.33 to 1.4 million years ago. They shared their environment with other animals such as Dinofelis, Deinotherium, and Ancylotherium as well as other Ape-Men such as Homo Habilis and Homo Rudolfensis. Paranthropus was one of the most successful Ape-Men in their environment due to their specialism. However when the habitat changed and new animals started to appear, Paranthropus found themselves in a world they were simply unprepared for and couldn't adapted to vegetation changes. The only legacy that Paranthropus left were fossilized bone and nothing from these Ape-Men lived on.

The first Paranthropus fossils were discovered in Tanzania in 1959 by Louis Leakey's wife Mary Leakey who found a portion of a skull poking out of the ground.

Physical Attributes[]

Paranthropus stood 1.37 metres heigh and weighed about 49 kilograms.

Paranthropus most often had attributes that similar to modern apes such as gorillas. Male often lead the troop which consist 4 males while the rest are made of females.

Smac Paläolithikum 013

Paranthropus skull

These Ape-Men were adapted brilliantly to make the most of the foods that surrounds them. They had powerful cheek muscles, an enormous jaw, and back teeth four times the size of our own, which meant Paranthropus could eat through the toughest vegetation like the roots of reeds and acacia pods. Their specialisms made these hominids incredibly successful especially during a long dry season when many animals found the going hard, but for these apes, pickings were easy. Although Paranthropus was almost entirely vegetarian, we know from tell-tale signs in their teeth there one kind of meat that they couldn't resist: Termites.

Unlike Homo Habilis who were the jack-of-all-trades, Paranthropus was the master of one trade. That meant that both species embodied two very different approaches to survival.

Behavior & Traits[]

Paranthropus lived in groups that were similar to modern gorillas and were made up with a dominant male and females. Grooming is how all apes bond with each other and Paranthropus was no exception.

Like modern chimps and gorillas, female Paranthropus would often moved to new groups when they are old enough to mate. However to win herself a place in the troop, newcomers had to be accepted by both the dominant male and to extend the other females. For the existing queen of the troop, newcoming females could be a real threat.

During the wet season, Paranthropus sometimes displayed when it rained and no one knew exactly why rather it was out of sheer exhilaration or perhaps they hated getting wet, but its common behavior amongst apes of our own time. Much like modern day gorilla, Paranthropus were useless at building shelters.

Journal Entry[]

One of the most successful ape-men species, Paranthropus were similar to modern gorillas in behavior. Males were 4½ feet taller and weighs as twice as much as the females. This differance would tell scientists about how they lived. The dominant male's sheer bulk and power had held the troop together, and had mated with all the females of the group. When a new female Paranthropus looks for new group to join and wins herself a place in the group, she had to be accepted by both the dominant male and to an extent, the other females of the troop.


Paranthropus were adapted brilliantly to make the most of the foods that surrounded them. They had powerful muscles in their teeth, an enormous jaw, and back teeth four times the size of a modern humans' which meant they ate the toughest vegatation such as the roots of reeds and hardened Acacia pods. Their specialisms made Paranthropus incredibly successful especially during a long dry season when many animals found the going hard. They were the masters of one trade, unlike other apemen that shared their environment like Homo Habilis who were instead the jack-of-all-trades. Although Paranthropus was almost entirely vegetarian, scientists know from tell-tale signs in their teeth that there was one kind of meat that they couldn't resist and that was termites which were doubly irresistible.

Grooming is how all apes bonded with each other, and Paranthropus was no exception. Sometimes when the wet season comes, Paranthropus sometimes displayed when it started to rain either because it was out of sheer exhilaration or probably they hated getting wet, but it's common behavior in modern apes. Sadly much like modern Gorillas, Paranthropus were useless at building shelter to keep them dry.

— Allen Johnson, in his journal about Paranthropus

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • The sound effects of Paranthropus are that of chimpanzee sound effects.
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