STS 71 is a fossilized skull of the species ''
Australopithecus africanus
''Australopithecus africanus'' is an extinct species of australopithecine which lived between about 3.3 and 2.1 million years ago in the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene of South Africa. The species has been recovered from Taung, Sterkfonte ...
''. It was discovered in
Sterkfontein
Sterkfontein (Afrikaans for ''Strong Spring'') is a set of limestone caves of special interest to paleo-anthropologists located in Gauteng province, about northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa in the Muldersdrift area close to the town of K ...
,
South Africa by
Robert Broom in 1947. In 1972 John Wallace connected STS 71 with STS 36, a lower jaw found in the same layer, by matching the wear patterns on the teeth.
It is estimated to be 2.5 million years old.
Its characteristics include a smaller cranium and facial features than other female Australopithecines finds yet the size of the teeth indicate this specimen to be male. The face shows forward projection and the position of the temporal lines high on the cranium indicate large chewing muscles. The brain is 428cc.
See also
*
List of human fossils
*
List of fossil sites ''(with link directory)''
*
List of hominina (hominid) fossils ''(with images)''
References
*
External links
Metadata of STS 71 on NESPOS
Australopithecus fossils
Archaeological discoveries in South Africa
1947 archaeological discoveries
Archaeology of Southern Africa
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