The genus Australopithecus (Latin australis "of the south", Greek pithekos "ape") is a group of extinct hominids, the gracile australopithecines, closely related to humans. Evolution Gracile australopithecines shared several traits with modern apes and humans, and were widespread throughout Eastern and Northern Africa by a time between 3.0 and 3.9 million years ago. The earliest evidence of fundamentally bipedal hominids can be observed at the site of Laetoli in Tanzania. These hominid footprin… (More on Australopithecus)