Paranthropus

***Paranthropus*** is an extinct genus of robust australopithecines. They probably descended from the genus _Australopithecus_.

## Description

All species of _Paranthropus_ were bipedal. Many lived at the same time as species of the genus _Homo_, such as _Homo ergaster_ and _Homo erectus_.

_Paranthropus_ first appeared roughly 2.7 million years ago. Most species of _Paranthropus_ had a brain about 40 percent of the size of modern man. There was some size variation between the different species of _Paranthropus_, but most stood roughly 1.3-1.4 m (4.26 to 4.59 feet) tall and were quite well muscled.

_Paranthropus_ is thought to have lived in wooded areas rather than the grasslands of the _Australopithecus_.

_Australopithecus_ and _Paranthropus_ skulls also looked very different from each other. Since the other parts of the skeleton were still very similar, the difference in skulls may have been an adaptation to different food. _Paranthropus's_ skull and teeth were more massively built. It often had gorilla-like sagittal crests on the cranium which anchored massive temporalis muscles for chewing.

### Behaviour

_Paranthropus_ did not behave in the same way as _Homo_. They lived on a diet of heavy-duty plant material: leaves, slim branches, grass, roots. The diet might be supplemented with insect grubs. Lacking our flexible behaviour, _Paranthropus_ relied on the steady environmental conditions of the tropical forest.

Members of the genus _Homo_, such as _Homo habilis_, had proportionately larger brains and more flexible behaviour. They were able to eat a much wider variety of foods.

## Disputed taxonomy

Opinions differ whether the species _P. aethiopicus, P. boisei_ and _P. robustus_ should be included within the genus _Australopithecus_. On the English Wikipedia, the genus _Paranthropus_ is used for all articles which mention the species _P. aethiopicus, P. boisei_ and _P. robustus_.

## Occurrence

For the most part the _Australopithecus_ species _A. afarensis_, _A. africanus_, and _A. anamensis_ either disappeared from the fossil record before the appearance of early humans or seem to have been the ancestors of _Homo habilis_. On the other hand, _P. boisei_ and _P. aethiopicus_ continued to evolve along a separate path distinct and unrelated to early humans. _Paranthropus_ shared the earth with some early examples of the _Homo_ genus, such as _H. habilis_, _H. ergaster_, and possibly even _H. erectus_.

## Intelligence

Species of _Paranthropus_ had smaller braincases than _Homo_, yet they had significantly larger braincases than _Australopithecus_. Paranthropus is associated with stone tools both in southern and eastern Africa, although there is considerable debate whether they were made and utilized by these robust australopithecines. Most believe that early _Homo_ was the tool maker.

Most _Paranthropus_ species almost certainly did not have language or the ability to control fire, although they are directly associated with the latter at Swartkrans, South Africa.

## Discovery

A partial cranium and mandible of _Paranthropus robustus_ was discovered in 1938 by a schoolboy, 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 is at least 1.95 million years old.

_Paranthropus boisei_ was discovered by paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey in July 1959 at the site of Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. In his notes, Louis Leakey recorded a first name, _Titanohomo mirabilis_, reflecting that he initially thought the specimen was close to human. Louis and Mary began to call it "Dear Boy".

Recovery was halted on August 7. Dear Boy was in context with Oldowan tools and animal bones.

The fossil was published in _Nature_ on 15 August 1959, but due to a printers' strike, the issue was not released until September. In it Louis placed the fossil in Robert Broom's Australopithecinae family, but created a new genus and species for it: _Zinjanthropus_ _boisei_. ("Zinj" is an ancient Arabic word for the coast of East Africa and "boisei" referred to Charles Boise, an anthropological benefactor of the Leakeys.) Louis based his classification on twenty differences from Australopithecus.

Louis had considered Broom's _Paranthropus_ genus, but rejected it because he believed Zinj was in the _Homo_ ancestral stock but Paranthropus was not. He relied heavily on the larger size of Zinj's canine teeth.

The battle of the name raged on for many years and drove a wedge between Louis and LeGros Clark, who took the _Paranthropus_ view. On the other hand it brought the Leakeys and Dr. Melville Bell Grosvenor of the National Geographic Society together. The Leakeys became international figures and had no trouble finding funds from then on. The Zinj question ultimately became part of the _Australopithecus_/_Paranthropus_ question (which only applied to the robust Australopithecines).