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Concept
Australopithecus garhi
Summary
Australopithecus garhi is a species of australopithecine from the Bouri Formation in the Afar Region of Ethiopia 2.6–2.5 million years ago (mya) during the Early Pleistocene. The first remains were described in 1999 based on several skeletal elements uncovered in the three years preceding. A. garhi was originally considered to have been a direct ancestor to Homo and the human line, but is now thought to have been an offshoot. Like other australopithecines, A. garhi had a brain volume of ; a jaw which jutted out (prognathism); relatively large molars and premolars; adaptations for both walking on two legs (bipedalism) and grasping while climbing (arboreality); and it is possible that, though unclear if, males were larger than females (exhibited sexual dimorphism). One individual, presumed female based on size, may have been tall.
A. garhi is the first pre-Homo hominin postulated to have manufactured tools—using them in butchering—and may be counted among a growing body of evidence for pre-Homo stone tool industries (the ability to manufacture tools was previously believed to have separated Homo from predecessors.) A. garhi possibly produced the Oldowan industry which was previously considered to have been invented by the later H. habilis, though this may have instead been produced by contemporary Homo.
The Ethiopian Australopithecus garhi was first described in 1999 by palaeoanthropologists Berhane Asfaw, Tim D. White, Owen Lovejoy, Bruce Latimer, Scott Simpson, and Gen Suwa based on fossils discovered in the Hatayae Beds of the Bouri Formation in Middle Awash, Afar Region, Ethiopia. The first hominin remains were discovered here in 1990—a partial parietal bone (GAM-VP-1/2), left jawbone (GAM-VP-1/1), and left humerus (MAT-VP-1/1)—which are unassignable to a specific genus. The first identifiable Australopithecus fossils–an adult ulna (BOU-VP-11/1)–were found on 17 November 1996 by T. Assebework. A partial skeleton (BOU-VP-12/1) was discovered 13 days later by White, comprising a mostly complete left femur, right humerus, radius, and ulna, and a partial fibula, foot, and jawbone.
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