Paranthropus

Paranthropus (from Greek παρα, para "beside"; άνθρωπος, ánthropos "human") is a genus of extinct hominins. Also known as robust australopithecines, they were bipedal hominids that probably descended from the gracile australopithecine hominids (Australopithecus) 2.7 million years ago. Members of this genus are characterised by robust craniodental anatomy, including gorilla-like sagittal cranial crests, which suggest strong muscles of mastication, and broad, grinding herbivorous teeth. However, Paranthropus skulls lack the transverse cranial crests that are also present in modern gorillas.

Discovery

A partial cranium and mandible of Paranthropus robustus was discovered in 1938 by a schoolboy, Gert Terblanche, at Kromdraai B (70 km south west of Pretoria) in South Africa. It was described as a new genus and species by Robert Broom of the Transvaal Museum. The site has been excavated since 1993 by Francis Thackeray of the Transvaal Museum. A date of at least 1.95 million years has been obtained for Kromdraai B.

Paranthropus robustus

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.

Discovery

After Raymond Dart’s discovery of Australopithecus africanus, Broom had been in favour of Dart's claims about Australopithecus africanus being an ancestor of Homo sapiens. Broom was a Scottish doctor then working in South Africa who began making his own excavation in Southern Africa to find more specimens, which Dart had found earlier. In 1938, at 70 years old, Broom, excavating at Kromdraai, South Africa discovered pieces of a skull and teeth which resembled Dart's Australopithecus africanus find, but the skull had some "robust" characteristics.