Australopithecus robustus
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Paranthropus robustus Temporal range: , 2–1.2 Ma |
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| Original Skull of Paranthropus robustus at the Transvaal Museum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Family: | Hominidae |
| Subfamily: | Homininae |
| Genus: | Paranthropus |
| Species: | P. robustus |
| Binomial name | |
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†Paranthropus robustus Broom, 1938 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Australopithecus africanus (Dart, 1938) |
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Australopithecus africanus (Dart, 1938)
Paranthropus robustus (or Australopithecus robustus) is an early hominin, originally discovered in Southern Africa in 1938. Particularly regarding cranial features, the development of P. robustus seemed to be in the direction of a "heavy-chewing complex". On account of the definitive traits associated with this "robust" line of australopithecine, anthropologist Robert Broom established the genus Paranthropus and placed this species in it.
Paranthropus robustus is generally dated to have lived between 2.0 and 1.2 million years ago. It had large jaws and jaw muscles with the accompanying sagittal crest, and post-canine teeth that were adapted to serve in the dry environment they lived in.
After Raymond Dart’s discovery of Australopithecus africanus, Broom was in favour of Dart's claim that Australopithecus africanus was an ancestor of Homo sapiens. However, there was a great deal of skepticism and criticism from the academic community. Many claimed that Dart had been premature in naming the species, as the type specimen, called Taung Child, was a represented by a single skull of a juvenile. It was thought that such important claims should be based on a full skeleton of an adult.
Robert Broom was a Scottish doctor then working in South Africa who began making his own excavations in Southern Africa to find more specimens of A. africanus, to help strengthen Dart's position. It was his intent to find complete adult skeletons that would justify the species designation of A. africanus, and further justify its place as an ancestor of modern humans. In 1938, at 70 years old, Broom was excavating at Kromdraai, South Africa and discovered pieces of a skull and teeth which resembled Dart's Australopithecus africanus find, but the skull had some "robust" characteristics.
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