Definition of: Australopithecus

(ô·strā′lō·pi·thē′kəs) noun
A genus of small-brained primates of the Pliocene and early Pleistocene, first identified from a fossil juvenile skull found in 1924 at Taungs, South Africa; subsequent remains confirm its position as a transitional form between ape and man. Also called Taungs skull.
—Aus·tra′lo·pi·the′cine (-thē′sīn, -sin) adjective [<NL <L australis southern + Gk. pithēkos ape]