Other species have been reported found, including A. garhi in Ethiopia in 1999. A. afarensis, dating to at least 3.75 million years ago, may be ancestral to all the other species of this genus, with the exception of A. anamensis, a hominid dating to c.4.1 million years ago, discovered in 1994. A. afarensis is known from fossils found at Hadar and Omo, Ethiopia, and Laetoli, Tanzania. Remains of an australopithecine of similar size and between 2 to 3 million years old have also been found in S Africa. Known as A. africanus, it had molars slightly larger than A. afarensis, but in other respects it had decidedly more human features than A. afarensis, including a higher forehead, less prominent brow ridges, and a shorter face.
Most researchers consider A. africanus to be a distinct species that is descended from A. afarensis.
These features probably reflect a relatively specialized diet of rough vegetable matter. In contrast, A. afarensis and A. africanus had cranio-dental features consistent with a more generalized diet. The robust australopithecines all became extinct between 1.5 and 1 million years ago, while one of the gracile autralophithecines is believed to have given rise to the branch leading to the emergence of the genus Homo c.2.5 million years ago. The first remains of an Australopithecus recovered outside of E or S Africa, this surprisng find suggests hominid evolution took place over a much larger portion of Africa than many experts had originally believed. A cranium specimen recovered from W Turkana, Kenya, is attributed to the robust species A. aethiopicus.