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Australopithecus garhi is a gracile australopithecine species whose fossils were discovered in 1996 by a research team led by paleontologists Berhane Asfaw and Tim White. The hominin remains are part of the evolutionary tree and are believed to be a human ancestor species, possibly the direct ancestor to the human genus, Homo [Asfaw, B; White, T; 1999].

	AUSTRALOPITHECUS GARHI


AUSTRALOPITHECUS GARHI



Genus:		Australopithecus

Species:		Australopithecus garhi

Time Period:		2.6 to 2.5 million years ago

Characteristics:		Primitive-shaped Stone Tools

Fossil Evidence:		Fossils, Ethiopia, Africa


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AUSTRALOPITHECUS GARHI

The Australopithecus garhi fossils were discovered in the Bouri Formation located in the Middle Awash of Ethiopia’s Afar Depression. ‘Garhi’ means ‘surprise’ in the local Afar language.

The Australopithecus garhi fossils are distinctive from those of Australopithecus afarensis and Australopithecus africanus, although the skull cranial capacity is similar. The premolars and the molars are larger than other australopithecine, similar to Paranthropus boisei.

Few primitive shaped stone tool artifacts closely resembling Oldwan technology were discovered with the Australopithecus garhi fossils, dating back roughly 2.6 and 2.5 million years old.