The partial skeleton of Australopithecus from the Hadar Formation, Ethiopia, is reconstructed and compared with other primates. It is demonstrated that the skull of A.L. 288-1 is not as chimplike as it was proposed for Australopithecus afarensis and that the cranial fragments do not differ from Australopithecus africanus. Structural features like the funnelshaped thorax and the pelvis, with its broad iliaca for insertion of musculus latissimus dorsi and the long lever arm of the pubic muscular attachments, invoke a high level of suspensorial behavior. In our opinion, A. africanus is a generalized hominid primate that differs from the specialized African apes, the living pongids beeing too derived to represent a model of a primitive hominoid or hominid ancestor.

Keywords:
Fossil hominids, Australopithecus afarensis/africanus, Skeletal anatomy, Locomotion, Body proportions
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© 1983 S. Karger AG, Basel
1983
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