Genus containing several species of extinct early homonins that were closely related to, if not actually ancestors of, modern human beings, known from a series of fossils found at numerous sites in eastern, central, and southern Africa. The various species of Australopithecus lived during the Pliocene Epoch, which lasted from 5.3 to 1.8 million years ago. As characterized by the fossil evidence, they bore a combination of human- and apelike traits.
