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Wesleyan University Archaeology & Anthropology Collections Hominin Fossil Casts |
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Species Designation: Australopithecus africanus ID/ Nickname: STS 52b Date: 2.3 - 2.8 million years Catalog #: 2004-11-4 Description: mandible
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Wesleyan University Archaeology & Anthropology Collections Hominin Fossil Casts |
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Species Designation: Australopithecus africanus ID/ Nickname: STS 52b Date: 2.3 - 2.8 million years Catalog #: 2004-11-4 Description: mandible
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Context of Discovery:
Discovered at Sterkfontein by J.T. Robinson in 1949.
Facts about "STS 52b":
The full dentition was found. STS 52a is the maxilla and STS 52b is the mandible. The teeth and supporting bone show a disappearance of primitive features, such as large canines and a diastema, that were in earlier A. africanus. The dentition is also larger than in earlier australopithecines, indicating an increased emphasis on the masticatory apparatus.
Important Publications:
Broom, R. A., J. T. Robinson, and G. W. H. Schepers. 1950. "Sterkfontein ape man Plesianthropus." Transvaal Museum Memoir 4.
Robinson, J. T. 1956. "The dentition of the Australopithecinae." Transvaal Museum Memoir 9.