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 
 teeth. Like the gorilla, this animal was a herbivore. The shape of the jaw is like a parabola; in gorillas it is more flat at the front. The shape of the jaw and the canines (which do not protrude) are human-like characteristics.]]

A partial cranium and mandible of *Paranthropus robustus* was discovered in 1938 by a schoolboy, 70&nbsp;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).

## References 
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