Australopithecus

1
Australopithecus

Made by Alyssa, Jordan, Ryan, Nate!
2
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever heard of the Australopithecus
species? They where the first human-like
ancestors from more than 3.2 - 3.8 million years
ago. They where found in Ethiopia, Africa. The
first Australopithecus was found in 1974 and was
named Lucy. They named her Lucy because they
where listening to the Beatles song, Lucy in the
Sky with Diamonds.
3
Dates and Places
The Australopithecus species dated back from 3.2
-3.8 million years ago, and they lived in
Ethiopia, Africa. They werent very old when they
died. The normal lifespan for them was about
25-30 years old. It was a very hard place and
time to live for the Australopithecus.
4
Physical Appearance
The Australopithecus people never wore any
clothes because they never had any free time to
make clothes since they where always on the run.
The face of a typical Australopithecus was like
a chimps, but they had a human build. The weight
for a female and male varied from 40-70 pounds.
Their height also varied from 47 - 67in. The
females and males looked very similar to each
other. The females did not have much hair like
modern humans do now. The males did not look like
a average male. So you couldnt really tell a
female from a male.
5
Description and Shelter
The Australopithecus did not really have great
shelter. They lived in trees and caves. Since
they were always on the move, they never had time
to build any outstanding shelter, so they used
what they saw and found. The shelter was really
easy to find for them. They never stayed in one
spot long enough to have any permanent shelter.
When there was a storm, all they had to do was go
find a big tree or a good cave. So for you people
with homes, be grateful for what you have!!!
6
Food
Australopithecus ate bird eggs, plants such as
berries, fruits and leaves, and tree roots. They
did not have sophisticated tools, but they used a
stick and sometimes an old rib bone if they were
lucky. They stuck a stick in an old log to catch
bugs, and they had no tools except for a long
twig to get fruits. They were not great
scavengers so they did not have much luck for
killing big animals on the run.
7
Tools
Bones, sticks, and rocks were the only tools
that they used. These tools were mainly used for
finding food and for surviving this harsh life
that they had. These tools were mainly found for
finding food and for surviving.
8
Language
The Australopithecus species did not talk. They
had NO spoken way to communicate, so they never
worried or cared about it. They also never
learned to talk because they always would make
sounds, but not a word would come out because
their voice box wasnt designed for speech,
although they did use gestures and grunts to
communicate.
9
Fire
The Australopithecus did not have fire. They were
very simple.
10
Painting and Carving
Painting and carving wasnt something done by
Australopithecus. They did not have any color
to paint with and they had no tools to carve
with.
11
Religion
The Australopithecus did not have any
ceremonies.They also didnt have a religion,
which means they did not believe in any gods.
They also never had any time to worship any gods
because they were too busy surviving.
12
Conclusion
We hope youve learned a lot about the
Australopithecus species. We know we have. It
was very interesting to learn about them. There
were a lot of things that we all found weird and
funny about their species.
13
Now that youve learned what we have, we need you
to answer three questions 1.Why is the
discovery of Lucy so important to the
scientists? 2. When and where was Lucys species
found? 3. Why did the Australopithecus not have
art and religion? How do you think this affected
their species?