Ardipithecus

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Ardipithecus
Temporal range: Pliocene
Ardipithecus ramidus skull
Scientific classification
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Ardipithecus

White et al., 1995
Species

Ardipithecus kadabba
Ardipithecus ramidus

Ardipithecus is a very early hominid genus, which lived during the late Neogene.

Two species are known: A. kadabba, dated to about 5.6 million years ago (late Miocene),[1] and A. ramidus, which lived about 4.4 million years ago during the early Pliocene.[2]

Because this genus shares several traits with the African great ape genera (Pan and Gorilla), some place it on the that branch rather than human branch.

Most consider it a proto-human because of a likeness in teeth with Australopithecus. Ardipithecus had bipedalism and reduced canines, like the Australopithecines.

Related pages[change | change source]

References[change | change source]

  1. White, Tim D. (2009). "Ardipithecus ramidus and the paleobiology of early hominids". Science. 326 (5949): 75–86. doi:10.1126/science.1175802. PMID 19810190. S2CID 20189444.
  2. Perlman, David. "Fossils from Ethiopia may be earliest human ancestor". National Geographic News. Retrieved 1 July 2009.