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Australopithecus africanus: cranium

Object Details

Is this an original object?
No
Age
Between 2.5 and 2.1 million years old
Summary
STS 5, a nearly complete adult Australopithecus africanus, was an important fossil find because skeptics had previously argued that the Taung Child was actually a baby chimpanzee that would have gained its ape-like features when it got older. This fossil showed that maturity wouldn’t make A. africanus less human. The main difference between STS 5 and the Taung Child is that this fossil's face is strongly prognathic, an ape-like feature that becomes more pronounced as A. africanus individuals grow up.
STS 5 was nicknamed 'Mrs. Ples' by scientist Robert Broom after initially hypothesizing that she was a middle-aged female Plesianthropus transvaalensis, which was the original name of this species---thus, ’Mrs. Ples.’ This skull now thought to have belonged to a male.
Often found alongside animal bones, Australopithecus africanus was once considered a “killer ape.” Now we know that members of this early human species were sometimes eaten by predators. Living together in groups helped these early humans protect themselves.
Why dynamite is not necessarily the best way to excavate human remains.... do you see the wedge-shaped portion of the forehead reconstructed here in a light color? If you follow that crack around to the rear of the skull, you’ll see why scientists are much more careful today when excavating, or digging for human remains. Mrs. Ples’ skull was actually blown into two pieces during its extraction from the breccia (a cement-like rock) because Broom used dynamite to expose the remains over backbreaking work with a pickaxe.
Date of discovery
1947
Discovered by
Robert Broom and John T. Robinson
Original Object Holding Institution
University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa)
Location of Discovery
Sterkfontein, Republic of South Africa
Site
Sterkfontein, Republic of South Africa
Data Source
NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
Original Object Identifier
STS 5
USNM Number
N382192-0
GUID
ark:/65665/3ad017d8f-fb81-48e9-9ae1-c8dd93d835dc
Species
Australopithecus africanus
Record ID
dpo_3d_200041
Metadata Usage
CC0

Related Object Groups

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    Hominin Fossils

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These files consist of 3D scans of historical objects in the collections of the Smithsonian and may be downloaded by you only for non-commercial, educational, and personal uses subject to this disclaimer (https://3d.si.edu/disclaimer) and in accordance with the Terms of Use (https://3d.si.edu/termsofuse).
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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