Paranthropus Aethiopicus Essay

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Paranthropus aethiopicus Paranthropus aethiopicus is an extinct species of hominid. The genus Paranthropus translates to “beside man”. The paranthropines were not direct ancestors of modern humans, but instead, like cousins to modern human ancestors. The species is still very unknown to paleontologists. They have only discovered a few remains of the Paranthropus aethiopicus. It was first discovered by a team of French paleontologists in the Lower Omo River Valley, Ethiopia. They found a part of a jaw with no teeth still intact. This didn’t give much information, but looked farely different from any other species they had discovered. The scientist decided Paranthropus aethiopicus was an entirely different species. Besides that fact of it being a new species, they new very little still about the Paranthropus aethiopicus. That is until the discovery of “Black Skull”, a nearly complete skull, was the most important discovery for learning about Paranthropus aethiopicus. Alan Walker discovered this fossil of a skull in 1985. It was found on the western shore of Lake Turkana, Kenya. The skull was known as Black Skull because high levels of manganese in the the soil it sat in. They found the features of the Paranthropus aethiopicus quite primitive. Overall the skull was apelike. They had a projecting face and a small brain size, around 411cc. They had well developed sagittal crest on the of the skull indicates huge chewing muscles. They mainly used their front teeth for chewing. Cheek bones are positioned very far forward and the outer margins of the face project far forward of the middle of the face, creating the appearance of a “dished” face. Scientists are uncertain on the height and weight of the Paranthropus aethiopicus. They did find a humerus and a ulna which indicate a large body and forelimb. Scientists have little evidence on the environment or

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