<P> The type specimen for genus Australopithecus was discovered in 1924, in a lime quarry by workers at Taung, South Africa . The specimen was studied by the Australian anatomist Raymond Dart, who was then working at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg . The fossil skull was from a three - year - old bipedal primate that he named Australopithecus africanus . The first report was published in Nature in February 1925 . Dart realised that the fossil contained a number of humanoid features, and so, he came to the conclusion that this was an early ancestor of humans . Later, Scottish paleontologist Robert Broom and Dart set about to search for more early hominin specimens, and at several sites they found more A. africanus remains, as well as fossils of a species Broom named Paranthropus (which would now be recognised as P. robustus). Initially, anthropologists were largely hostile to the idea that these discoveries were anything but apes, though this changed during the late 1940s . </P> <P> The first australopithecine discovered in eastern Africa was a skull belonging to an A. boisei that was excavated in 1959 in the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania by Mary Leakey . Since then, the Leakey family have continued to excavate the gorge, uncovering further evidence for australopithecines, as well as for Homo habilis and Homo erectus . The scientific community took 20 years to widely accept Australopithecus as a member of the family tree . </P> <P> Then, in 1997, an almost complete Australopithecus skeleton with skull was found in the Sterkfontein caves of Gauteng, South Africa . It is now called "Little Foot" and it is probably around three million years old . It was named Australopithecus prometheus which has since been placed within A. africanus . Other fossil remains found in the same cave in 2008 were named Australopithecus sediba, which lived 1.9 million years ago . A. africanus probably evolved into A. sediba, which some scientists think may have evolved into H. erectus, though this is heavily disputed . </P> <Ul> <Li> Australopithecus bahrelghazali, mandibular fragment, discovered 1995 in Sahara, Chad </Li> <Li> AL 129 - 1, an A. afarensis knee joint, discovered 1973 in Hadar, Ethiopia </Li> <Li> Karabo, a juvenile male A. sediba, discovered in South Africa </Li> <Li> Laetoli footprints, preserved hominin footprints in Tanzania </Li> <Li> Lucy, a 40% - complete skeleton of a female A. afarensis, discovered 1974 in Hadar, Ethiopia </Li> <Li> Selam, remains of a three - year - old A. afarensis female, discovered in Dikika, Ethiopia </Li> <Li> STS 5 (Mrs. Ples), the most complete skull of an A. africanus ever found in South Africa </Li> <Li> STS 14, remains of an A. africanus, discovered 1947 in Sterkfontein, South Africa </Li> <Li> STS 71, skull of an A. africanus, discovered 1947 in Sterkfontein, South Africa </Li> <Li> Taung Child, skull of a young A. africanus, discovered 1924 in Taung, South Africa </Li> </Ul>

Which species of australopithecines was known as the gracile species