Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A genus of extinct hominins known from Pliocene and early Pleistocene fossil remains found in Africa, characterized by relatively small brain size and evidence of bipedalism. Several species are known, including A. afarensis, dating from four to three million years ago, of which Lucy is the best-known specimen.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- proper noun A taxonomic
genus within thesubfamily Homininae — a group ofextinct hominids related tohumans .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun extinct genus of African hominid
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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But Mary was unswayed, saying only that she had never liked the term Australopithecus and thought it a poor choice for the Laetoli hominids.
Ancestral Passions Virginia Morell 1995
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But Mary was unswayed, saying only that she had never liked the term Australopithecus and thought it a poor choice for the Laetoli hominids.
Ancestral Passions Virginia Morell 1995
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Raymond Dart, then, gave the name Australopithecus to the Taung Child, the type specimen of the genus, and we have been stuck with this depressingly unimaginative name for our ancestor ever since.
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH RICHARD DAWKINS 2009
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Raymond Dart, then, gave the name Australopithecus to the Taung Child, the type specimen of the genus, and we have been stuck with this depressingly unimaginative name for our ancestor ever since.
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH RICHARD DAWKINS 2009
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But scientific nomenclature cannot just be wished away, and Mary was fated to hear the name Australopithecus afarensis for many years to come.
Ancestral Passions Virginia Morell 1995
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Some prefer the designation Australopithecus robustus, while others insist that Paranthropus robustus remains a valid genus.
Ancestral Passions Virginia Morell 1995
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Some prefer the designation Australopithecus robustus, while others insist that Paranthropus robustus remains a valid genus.
Ancestral Passions Virginia Morell 1995
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A month later, in February 1978, Mary met White at Berkeley where she reiterated her concerns: essentially, she was unhappy with the appellation Australopithecus and did not want to be associated with their naming venture if that was the term they chose.
Ancestral Passions Virginia Morell 1995
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A month later, in February 1978, Mary met White at Berkeley where she reiterated her concerns: essentially, she was unhappy with the appellation Australopithecus and did not want to be associated with their naming venture if that was the term they chose.
Ancestral Passions Virginia Morell 1995
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Whether or not Johanson and White consciously set out to create a species that would challenge Mary, they both knew as soon as they put the tag Australopithecus on the Laetoli hominids that Mary would be unhappy.
Ancestral Passions Virginia Morell 1995
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