Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🦴 An early human 🦴 About early humans
australopithecine

australopithecine

9.9
Relating to extinct early human-like primates that lived in Africa
  • adjective
  • /ˌɔːstrəloʊˈpɪθiˌsiːn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : australopiteco
  • Scientists have studied australopithecine bones to learn more about early human evolution.

Examples

  • The australopithecine fossils were discovered in South Africa.

  • The australopithecine fossils were discovered in South Africa in the early twentieth century.

  • This site yielded several australopithecine skulls, helping to clarify our ancestral tree.

  • Is the australopithecine the ancestor of modern humans?

  • The fossil evidence includes several australopithecine remains, shedding light on early human evolution.

  • Researchers have discovered australopithecine tools that suggest advanced behavior for their time.

  • The study focused on the australopithecine traits that distinguish them from modern humans.

Surface Forms

australopithecine positive

Morphology

australopithecine = Australopithecus (semi-transparent) = australopithecus + ine

Formed regularly from the genus name + the adjectival/member-forming suffix '-ine', but the base is a technical scientific name unfamiliar to typical B1 learners.

Etymology

Australopithecine comes from the name Australopithecus, which is made of austral- meaning 'southern' (the same 'austral' as in Australia) and -pithecus meaning 'ape'. So calling something australopithecine links it to a 'southern ape', explaining why the word describes early ape-like hominids from Africa.