The '''australopithecines''' are now thought to be immediate ancestors of the genus ''Homo'', the group to which modern humans belong. Both australopithecines and ''Homo sapiens'' are part of the tribe Hominini, but recent data has brought into doubt the position of ''A. africanus'' as a direct ancestor of modern humans; it may well have been a dead-end cousin. The australopithecines were originally classified as either gracile or robust. The robust variety of ''Australopithecus'' has since been reclassified as ''Paranthropus'', although it is still regarded as a subgenus of ''Australopithecus'' by some authors. | The '''australopithecines''' are now thought to be immediate ancestors of the genus ''Homo'', the group to which modern humans belong. Both australopithecines and ''Homo sapiens'' are part of the tribe Hominini, but recent data has brought into doubt the position of ''A. africanus'' as a direct ancestor of modern humans; it may well have been a dead-end cousin. The australopithecines were originally classified as either gracile or robust. The robust variety of ''Australopithecus'' has since been reclassified as ''Paranthropus'', although it is still regarded as a subgenus of ''Australopithecus'' by some authors. |