南猿属(Australopithecus)

已灭绝的一属人类，从上新世（约始於530万年前）早期到更新世（约180万年前）之初居住於非洲地区。大部分古人类学家相信南猿属是现代人类的祖先。南猿与早期类人猿的区别在於体态直立和靠双脚行走。他们的脑容量相当小，与现存类人猿差距不大，但他们的牙齿比较接近人类。人类学家依体型把南猿区分为二︰体型较小、较轻或所谓「纤细」型的阿法南猿（A. afarensis，375万年前）和非洲南猿（A. africanus, 200～300万年前）；演化後较重、较「粗壮」型的粗壮南猿（A. robustus, 100～200万年前）和鲍氏南猿（A. boisei, 175万年前）。一般认为，粗壮南猿和鲍氏南猿从纤细型人种演化而来，最後因无演化的後继者而灭绝。我们不清楚哪种纤细型南猿使人属兴起，虽然证据显示是阿法南猿。亦请参阅Hadar remains、human evolution、Lucy、Olduvai Gorge、Sterkfontein。

English version：

Australopithecus

(“southern ape”) Genus of extinct hominids that lived in southern and eastern Africa from the early Pliocene Epoch (beginning c. 5.3 million years ago) to the beginning of the Pleistocene (c. 1.8 million years ago). It is believed to be ancestral to modern human beings. The australopithecines were distinguished from the apes by their upright posture and bipedal gait. Their brains were small, not very different from those of living apes, but their teeth were more human than apelike. Three species of gracile australopithecines, A. anamensis (4.2 million years ago), A. afarensis (3.75 million years ago) and A. africanus (3 million-2 million years ago), and two species of robust australopithecines, A. robustus (2 million-1 million years ago) and A. boisei (1.75 million years ago), have been identified. Both robust species apparently evolved from the gracile species and eventually became extinct without evolutionary successors. It is not known which gracile species gave rise to the genus Homo, though the evidence suggests it was the earlier A. afarensis. See also Hadar remains, human evolution, Laetoli footprints, Lucy, Olduvai Gorge, Sterkfontein.