Paranthropus aethiopicus

Paranthropus aethiopicus is an extinct robust australopithecine from the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene of East Africa, about 2.7 to 2.3 million years ago. Some researchers doubt that Paranthropus is a valid grouping and call the species Australopithecus aethiopicus. It is considered the ancestor of the even more robust Paranthropus boisei, and some would fold it into that species. It had a tall face, a thick palate and greatly enlarged cheek teeth, though its archaic build also resembles the much earlier Australopithecus afarensis. It is known mainly from the skull KNM WT 17000 from West Turkana, Kenya, plus jawbones from Koobi Fora, the Shungura Formation and Laetoli, in bushland and open woodland with waterlogged grasslands.