page_title: Paranthropus
section_title: Predators
hierarchical_section_title: Paranthropus / Palaeoecology / Predators
caption_attribution_description: English: Reconstruction of P. robustus being dragged by a leopard at the Ditsong Museum
context_page_description: Paranthropus is a genus of extinct hominin which contains two widely accepted species: P. robustus and P. boisei. However, the validity of Paranthropus is contested, and it is sometimes considered to be synonymous with Australopithecus. They are also referred to as the robust australopithecines. They lived between approximately 2.6 and 0.6 million years ago from the end of the Pliocene to the Middle Pleistocene.
  Paranthropus is characterised by robust skulls, with a prominent gorilla-like sagittal crest along the midline–which suggest strong chewing muscles–and broad, herbivorous teeth used for grinding. However, they likely preferred soft food over tough and hard food. Paranthropus species were generalist feeders, but P. robustus was likely an omnivore, whereas P. boisei was likely herbivorous and mainly ate bulbotubers. They were bipeds. Despite their robust heads, they had comparatively small bodies. Average weight and height are estimated to be 40 kg at 132 cm for P. robustus males, 50 kg at 137 cm for P. boisei males, 32 kg at 110 cm for P. robustus females, and 34 kg at 124 cm for P. boisei females.
context_section_description: The left foot of a P. boisei specimen (though perhaps actually belonging to H. habilis) from Olduvai Gorge seems to have been bitten off by a crocodile, possibly Crocodylus anthropophagus, and another's leg shows evidence of leopard predation. Other likely Olduvan predators of great apes include the hunting hyaena Chasmaporthetes nitidula, and the sabertoothed cats Dinofelis and Megantereon. The carnivore assemblage at the Cradle of Humankind comprises the two sabertooths, and the hyaena Lycyaenops silberbergi.
  Male P. robustus appear to have had a higher mortality rate than females. It is possible that males were more likely to be kicked out of a group, and these lone males had a higher risk of predation.
caption: Reconstruction of P. robustus being dragged by a leopard at the Ditsong Museum, Pretoria
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