Editing Australopithecus (section)

===Classification===
With the apparent emergence of the genera ''[[Homo]], [[Kenyanthropus]]'', and ''[[Paranthropus]]'' in the genus ''Australopithecus,'' [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]] runs into some difficulty, as the name of species incorporates their genus. According to [[cladistics]], groups should not be left [[paraphyletic]], where it is kept not consisting of a common ancestor and all of its descendants.<ref>{{Citation|last=Kimbel|first=William H.|chapter=The Species and Diversity of Australopiths|date=2015|pages=2071–2105|editor-last=Henke|editor-first=Winfried|publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-3-642-39979-4_50|isbn=9783642399787|editor2-last=Tattersall|editor2-first=Ian|title=Handbook of Paleoanthropology}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=--PNXm0q2O8C&pg=PA364 |page=364 |title=Primate Adaptation and Evolution|last=Fleagle|first=John G.|date=2013-03-08|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=9780123786333|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Schwarz|first=J.H.|s2cid=12944654|date=2004|title=Barking up the wrong ape--australopiths and the quest for chimpanzee characters in hominid fossils|journal=Collegium Antropologicum|volume=28|issue=Suppl 2 |pages=87–101|pmid=15571084}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cartmill|first=Matt|title=A sort of revolution: Systematics and physical anthropology in the 20th century|journal=[[American Journal of Physical Anthropology]]|language=en|volume=165|issue=4|pages=677–687|doi=10.1002/ajpa.23321|pmid=29574829|hdl=2144/29233|year=2018|doi-access=free|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Villmoare|first=Brian|date=2018-01-30|title=Early Homo and the role of the genus in paleoanthropology|journal=[[American Journal of Physical Anthropology]]|language=en|volume=165|pages=72–89|doi=10.1002/ajpa.23387|pmid=29380889|issn=0002-9483|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267552437|title=2 @BULLET Enhanced cognitive capacity as a contingent fact of hominid phylogeny|website=ResearchGate|language=en|access-date=2019-01-12}}</ref> Resolving this problem would cause major ramifications in the nomenclature of all descendent species. Possibilities suggested have been to rename ''Homo sapiens'' to ''Australopithecus sapiens''<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Flegr|first=Jaroslav|date=2013-11-27|title=Why Drosophila is not Drosophila any more, why it will be worse and what can be done about it?|journal=[[Zootaxa]]|language=en|volume=3741|issue=2|pages=295–300|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3741.2.8|pmid=25112991|issn=1175-5334}}</ref> (or even ''Pan sapiens''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Pietrzak-Franger |first1=Monika |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k1m8AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA118 |title=Reflecting on Darwin |last2=Schaff |first2=Barbara |last3=Voigts |first3=Eckart |date=2014-02-28 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |isbn=9781472414090 |page=118 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=DCUD9E-x8iEC |title=Science: A History: A History|last=Gribbin|first=John|date=2009-08-27|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|isbn=9780141042220|language=en}}</ref>), or to move some ''Australopithecus'' species into new genera.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url= https://medium.com/@johnhawks/the-plot-to-kill-homo-habilis-94a33bee2adf|title=The plot to kill Homo habilis|last=Hawks|first=John|date=2017-03-20|website=Medium|access-date=2019-03-24}}</ref> A study reported in 2025 reported preliminary success in extracting ancient proteins from an Australopithic tooth, suggesting that [[paleoproteomics]] has the potential to provide information about the genetic affinities of the species.<ref>{{cite journal| last=Madupe |first=Palesa |display-authors=etal| journal= South African Journal of Science|title=Results from an Australopithecus africanus dental enamel fragment confirm the potential of palaeoproteomics for South African Plio-Pleistocene fossil sites|volume= 121|number=1/2  |url= |doi=10.17159/sajs.2025/18571 |date=2025 |pages= |issn= |doi-access=free}}</ref>

In 2002 and again in 2007, Camilo José Cela Conde ''et al.'' suggested that ''A. africanus'' be moved to ''Paranthropus''.<ref name="Haile-Selassie2010c" /> On the basis of craniodental evidence, Strait and Grine (2004) suggest that ''A. anamensis'' and ''A. garhi'' should be assigned to new genera.<ref name="StraitGrine2004">{{cite journal|author1=Strait, David S.|author2=Grine, Frederick E.|date=December 2004|title=Inferring hominoid and early hominid phylogeny using craniodental characters: the role of fossil taxa|journal=[[Journal of Human Evolution]]|volume=47|issue=6|pages=399–452|doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2004.08.008|pmid=15566946|bibcode=2004JHumE..47..399S }}</ref> It is debated whether or not ''A. bahrelghazali'' should be considered simply a western variant of ''A. afarensis'' instead of a separate species.<ref name="Ward2016">{{Cite journal|url=https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/australopithecus-and-kin-145077614/|title=Australopithecus and Kin|author1=Ward, Carol V. |author2=Hammind, Ashley S. |date=2016| journal= Nature Education Knowledge |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=1 |language=en|access-date=2019-11-13}}</ref><ref name="White2002">{{Cite book |last1=White |first1=Tim D.|year=2002 |chapter=Chapter 24 Earliest Hominids| editor1-last=Hartwig |editor1-first=Walter Carl |title=The Primate Fossil Record (Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology)|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=0-521-66315-6}}</ref>

{{African hominin timeline}}