A genus of extinct ape-like human ancestors that lived in Africa between 4 and 2 million years ago, known for walking upright on two legs.
From Latin australis (southern) plus Greek pithekos (ape). The genus was named by Raymond Dart in 1925 when he discovered the first fossil in South Africa.
The most famous australopithecus is 'Lucy,' discovered in 1974, and her skeleton proved that our ancestors walked upright long before they had big brains—it completely changed how we understand human evolution!
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