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Australopithecus africanus

Its Phyletic Position Reconsidered

  • Chapter
New Interpretations of Ape and Human Ancestry

Part of the book series: Advances in Primatology ((AIPR))

Abstract

In 1925 Dart proposed that his newly named genus Australopithecus was the ancestor of the genus Homo (Dart, 1925). Despite a recent rash of claims to the contrary based on misidentified fossils or erroneous dates (R. Leakey, 1970, 1973a, 1976a; Oxnard, 1975, 1979; M. Leakey, 1979), it has become increasingly evident that Dart was correct—Australopithecus was ancestral to Homo.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA

    T. D. White

  2. Institute of Human Origins, 2700 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, California, 94704, USA

    D. C. Johanson

  3. Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106, USA

    D. C. Johanson & W. H. Kimbel

  4. Departments of Anthropology and Biology, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, 44240, USA

    W. H. Kimbel

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  1. T. D. White
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  2. D. C. Johanson
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  3. W. H. Kimbel
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Paleontology (temporary research appointment), University of California, 94720, Berkeley, California, USA

    Russell L. Ciochon

  2. Department of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University, 62901, Carbondale, Illinois, USA

    Robert S. Corruccini

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White, T.D., Johanson, D.C., Kimbel, W.H. (1983). Australopithecus africanus. In: Ciochon, R.L., Corruccini, R.S. (eds) New Interpretations of Ape and Human Ancestry. Advances in Primatology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8854-8_29

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