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Paranthropus robustus is the last of the Paranthropus Group of human ancestors. This species lived between 1.8 million and 1.2 million years ago in South Africa. However, their faces and cheekbones were very “robust”, thus leading to the name of this particular species of human ancestor.
What did Paranthropus boisei look like?
boisei a very wide and dish-shaped face, creating a larger opening for bigger jaw muscles to pass through and support massive cheek teeth four times the size of a modern human’s. This species had even larger cheek teeth than P. robustus, a flatter, bigger-brained skull than P.
What is unique about Paranthropus?
Unique features of the skull included particularly large premolar and molar teeth and a robust or strongly built lower jaw, so Broom announced it as a new species Paranthropus robustus. The first Paranthropus discovery in east Africa was made in 1959 by Mary Leakey.
What are the physical characteristics of Paranthropus or robust australopithecines?
Paranthropus is characterised by robust skulls, with a prominent gorilla-like sagittal crest along the midline—which suggest strong chewing muscles—and broad, herbivorous teeth used for grinding. However, they likely preferred soft food over tough and hard food. Paranthropus species were generalist feeders, but P.
Is Paranthropus boisei bipedal?
boisei skull fossils suggest that this species had limb proportions (the relative sizes of the upper and lower limb) similar to those of Australopithecus afarensis (see essay) and the scientific consensus is that P. boisei was bipedal.
How did Paranthropus boisei go extinct?
Whereas the ancestors of humans were thought to be adaptable generalists, Paranthropus species, which evolved massive teeth and jaws for chewing hard vegetation, were thought to have hit an evolutionary dead end because they were too specialised to adapt to new food sources produced by Africa’s changing climate.
Is Paranthropus boisei a hominin?
P. boisei is the most robust of this group. Brain size was about 450–550 cc (27–34 cu in), similar to other australopithecines….Paranthropus boisei.
| Paranthropus boisei Temporal range: Early Pleistocene, | |
|---|---|
| Infraorder: | Simiiformes |
| Family: | Hominidae |
| Subfamily: | Homininae |
| Tribe: | Hominini |
Was Paranthropus robustus a bipedal?
The robust australopithecines, members of the extinct hominin genus Paranthropus were bipedal hominids that probably descended from the gracile australopithecine hominids.
How did Paranthropus boisei get its name?
The well-preserved cranium of Paranthropus boisei was first discovered by Mary Leakey in the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania in 1959. It was given the nick-name ‘Nutcracker Man’ because of its large flat cheek teeth and thick enamel.
Which of these co existed with boisei?
boisei mainly inhabited wet, wooded environments, and coexisted with H. habilis, H. rudolfensis and H. ergaster/erectus.
Who found Paranthropus robustus?
Robert Broom
In 1938, Robert Broom discovered the first Paranthropus robustus material at the site of Swartkrans, South Africa.
When did Paranthropus boisei go extinct?
1.2 million years ago
WHY did the group of hominids called Paranthropus become extinct 1.2 million years ago, while a separate group that went on to produce modern humans survived? Anthropologists thought they knew, but that explanation has now been thrown into doubt.