The Most Important Characters of Australopithecine are listed below:
1.The skull has relatively small; cranium with large jaw, thereby making it apelike in appearance.
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2.Crests on top of the skull, heavy supraorbital ridges, marked facial prognathism, etc. of Australopithecine are also apelike features.
3.On the other hand, in respect of cranial height, forward position of the occipital condyles, in relation to the total length of the skull, the low position of the occipital torus and the inion, the height of nuchal area, the height of supraorbital region, etc. the Australopithecine skull is within the range of Homo sapiens.
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4.The cranial capacity of the Australopithecine ranges from 435 to 700 cc. In modern man it ranges from 850 cc to 1700 cc, while in modern gorillas it is from 420 to 752 cc. Thus, in this respect the Australopithecine is closer to the apes.
5.With regard to the relationship between brain size and body weight which is expressed by the brain: body ratio, the Australopithecine is closer to Homo sapiens, because that ratio is 1 : 42 in the former and 1 : 47 in the later, while in gorilla it is about 1 : 420.
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6.The lower jaw is large and is apelike in appearance, but in general the jaw has many hominid features. For example, simian shelf is absent unlike ape.
7.It has mental foramen.
8.The teeth of the Australopithecine are larger than those of man, but in form resemblances between the teeth of the two are apparent.
9.The incisors are vertical and small, smaller than those of apes.
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10.The canines are also smaller in size.
11.Diastema is absent.
12.The anterior lower premolars are bicuspid as in man.
13.Sexual diamorphism of the canines is not seen.
14.The long bones and pelvis suggest habitual erect posture and bipedal locomotion of the Australopithecine.
15.The pelvis shows some typical hominid characteristics.
16.The shape of the ilium is quite humanlike.
17.The arm and leg bones are also strikingly humanlike.
18. The talus exhibits an interesting admixture of hominid and pongid feature.