Type of australopitheus

Answer 1

I think you mean Australopithecus. There are four species, but two additional species have been reclassified. The australopithecines were ape-like ancestors to modern humans who lived around 2-4 million years ago, and perhaps earlier. The currently recognized species are Australopithecus afarensis, A. anamensis, A. garhi, and A. africanus. A. robustus and A. boisei used to be classified in this genus but have since been reclassified into the genus Paranthropus.

A. afarensis and A. africanus are probably the best known species. A. africanus was the first australopithecine discovered, and it was so named to describe the Taung child, one of the first specimens to be found in South Africa. Australo = southern, pithecus = ape. So the full scientific name means southern ape of Africa. Lucy was another famous specimen, the first of the A. afarensis specimens (Afar = a region in eastern Africa, ensis = from, so its full name means southern ape from Afar).

There are many good sources of information on the web on this subject, including the Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program webpage, http://anthropology.si.edu/humanorigins/