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Aethiopicus

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In both southern and eastern Africa have been found the skulls of a much more rugged-looking form of Australopithecus, with a gorilla-like bony crest on top to anchor the massive jaw muscles. The teeth, though human in form, have enormous grinding molars suitable for mashing tough vegetation. This hominid probably lived in the forests like the modern gorilla. The specimen shown here is a composite reconstruction of Australopithecus boisei, often nicknamed "Nutcracker Man" because of the enormous grinding molars. This is a full 360 degrees rotational "morphing" image. Move the cursor horizontally to rotate the image and vertically to "morph" between the skull and reconstructed head.

A. robustus is known from sites in southern Africa, notably Swartkrans. It lived between 2 and 1.5 million years ago. The massive face is flat or dished, with no forehead and large brow ridges. It has massive grinding teeth in a large lower jaw. Most specimens have distinct sagittal crests, a fixing point for the massive powerful jaw muscles this hominid would have had to process its food. Its diet would have been mostly coarse, tough food that needed a lot of chewing. The average brain size is about 530 cc.