australopithecine

plural australopithecines · alternative Australopithecine

1. anthropologyAny of several extinct hominids, belonging to the genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus in the subtribe Australopithecina when seen as distinct, and sometimes other closely related genera.First known use 20th c.

   It is as if there were enshrined in these legends a racial memory of the Australopithicines who came close but never did make it to full humanity.

   1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 28

   2 more examples

   Australopithecines came in several varieties, some slender and gracile, like Raymond Dart's Taung child, others more sturdy and robust, but all were capable of walking upright.

   2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, BCA, published 2003, page 391

   Caspari and Lee carried out comparisons ranging from ancient hominins such as australopithecines through to Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons, assessing the ratios of young adults to old adults.

   2011, Chris Stringer, The Origin of Our Species, Penguin, published 2012, page 151

comparative more australopithecine · superlative most australopithecine · alternative Australopithecine

1. anthropologyOf or pertaining to these hominids.

   Synonyms: australopith

plural Australopithecines

1. Alternative letter-case form of australopithecine.

1. not comparableAlternative letter-case form of australopithecine.